My mothering resume continues to expand each day. I never know what new skills I will add to my repertoire. Last week Abby's blue betta fish, Olivia, died. She was clearly not feeling well, so we weren't completely shocked to find her floating aimlessly on Wednesday afternoon. I did my best to break the news carefully and gently to my daughters. (Craig was gone for a 14-hour-er, so I was on my own). Emily's idea was then to bury Olivia and mark the spot with a giant blue X. Abby's idea was to return her to the sea. My idea... well, you can guess...which was deemed unacceptable to the fish's mother. Knowing that we couldn't dispose of the fish that day, I debated what to do with her. With all of Carson's baby food jars just begging for new uses, I thought it was brilliant to put her in one with a bit of water (it seemed too wierd to add no water). Well, it turns out that wasn't a fantastic idea. Long story short, we ended up with a dead betta fish, double-bagged in ziplocs, in the freezer. How was I supposed to know how to store a dead fish?! This is valuable life information that was not covered in any of my college courses. Also, what about "How to break the news of a dead pet to your child" or, "How to help a child deal with the loss of a pet" ...information you don't realize you're missing until seconds before you need it.
I am happy to report that Olivia has since been successfully and happily released into the wild; returned to the water from whence she came. And I now have several more skills and valuable knowledge to add to my resume.