Never Say Never: Pets

I've become quite fond of these little fishies. In fact their bowls are in the kitchen so I can see them throughout the day. Boston has asked several times to move Jerry to his room, and I keep telling him no because of my own selfish desire. What selfish desire can I possibly have towards these fish? Well I'm a quite talkative person by nature and since I don't really have any adult friends that I can talk to throughout the day, the remaining people to talk to are my children and Jerry, Princess, and Sissy. Talk to them? This phenomenon took me by surprise as well. Here's how it happened.

After we had the fish for a couple days, their cups became really dirty. I did some research on the Internet and learnt :) that these fish would be happier in a bigger bowl. I took the kids on a surprise trip to the fish store after camp one day and bought new bowls, water cleaner, and a fish net. I then set off to move the fish to their new home. Well as I was moving them, I started talking to them. Guess who responded the most to my sweet voice? Sissy. If you remember Sissy was the least active fish. In fact, Andy and I didn't think Sissy would survive long. I was concerned about these sweet fish making the transition to their new home, so it made sense for me to keep them in the kitchen to keep an eye on them. Right?!?!? That's how our relationship began.

As a result of my love, affection, and feeding, Sissy starts wiggling her little yellow body anytime I walk near her bowl. Her fins start flapping and she looks right at me. I chat with her for a few seconds and sometimes give her more food. Princess and Jerry don't pay much attention to me. Sometimes they don't even move, so I tap on their bowl to make sure they are alive. Then they move just a tad. Maybe their affection towards me will grow the longer I take care of them.

Other interesting facts I've learnt about Betta fish:
1. They build bubble nests when ready to mate. All 3 of have done this. Princess first, Sissy built a small one, and Jerry is currently in the process of building his.
2. They get fiesty when a mirror is placed in front of them. Sissy got the angriest. Her gills flared up over and over. The kids really liked this activity.
3. They only like a small amount of food. If there is food in the bowl 10 minutes after feeding, then they are getting too much food.

FYI: Boston, Olivia, and Sophia do help feed the fish most every day. They are also going to help clean the bowls tomorrow. I also tell them to talk to their fish. They haven't done this too much yet.

Sissy, Princess, and Jerry

After somewhat adjusting to leaving Allie in Houston, I felt the itch for our family to have a new pet. The kids also want a new pet but what to get? Nothing that is difficult to keep because of our traveling schedule. What came to mind? A beta fish that we saw at a fish store by our house.

Once the decision was made that the kids could each get a fish, Andy decided that Boston and Olivia needed to buy their own fish with their allowance money. The problem with this is that I'm sporadic with the allowance which means they don't have a lot of allowance money. Boston and Olivia had such pained expressions while Andy and I discussed this. The solution? They could spend some of the money in their piggy banks. And of course, since they've never spent money from the piggy bank, they had enough. Even though they don't look super excited in the pictures, they really are jumping for joy inside their little bodies.