...because when she's five it will come back to bite you in the, eh hum, rear.
About three weeks ago Monkey and I walked through PetsMart to buy frisbees for Gigi (they're a dollar and she loves her frisbees...), we made our normal detour (yes, we buy frisbees and balls on a rope quite frequently...) to the kittens and cats up for adoption. Monkey understands that we will not be adopting a kitten, but we still like to window shop (the same goes for the hamsters, gerbils, parakeets and lizards). The pet adoption area is adjacent to the tropical fish area.
As we passed the rows of fish tanks, Monkey said to me, "Momma, remember when we bought Rainbow Prince (A lovely, little, deep blue Betta, who swims in a small tank on her desk)?" "Uh, uh, " I replied cautiously because something in the tone of her voice suggested she had just let one shoe drop. "Momma (the repetive use of 'Momma' normally means something is going to be requested...), you said if I took care of Rainbow Prince for a year, I could have an aquarium." I waited. "Momma, it's been one year." Bam! The the other shoe dropped. It had indeed been almost one year to the day since we brought Rainbow Prince home and placed him in one of the most lavish set ups for a Betta ever devised - filtration, live plants, color coordinated gravel...
"Momma, you said," she added to emphasis the fact that she had held up her end of the bargain and now it was my time to pay up. And pay up, I did. We now have a 40 gallon aquarium in the house, with fish and all. I won't go into the cost of setting up an aquarium. I did promise, and I have this thing about sticking to my end of the bargain. And I'm sticking to my end of the bargain with a vengeance. Because, when you buy fish from PetsMart, they of course are going to have something - like a fungus, that shows up right after the warranty ends and you have to go out and buy lots of things to treat them with and then a few die and you'll have to replace them (or not) when the tank is all clean of any illness. My pocket book is aching. I hope Monkey's elephantine memory is working at Christmas when she only receives new socks and underwear.
And each fish has a name, although the neon tetras are just Rainbow Stripe #1 - #5. Here's Speckle Bucket (the kid has a flare for names, what can I say) the self-proclaimed king of the tank. He and his wife, Lola George, are expecting. One of the Wag Tail Platys has already given birth and one of her offspring is hiding in the foliage and growing daily. Please take my advice and beware of what you say to a four year old.
