I am both grateful and thankful that all my kids are legally adults. I'm particularly thankful today that they no longer attend day camp. My friend's daughter and her grandchildren arrived to her home last night with one of those "joys" of childhood: they had won 4 goldfish in a camp game. Of course, their Babi being the authority on all things swimming, they brought the fish to her. She dutifully searched around to find a container for them and got them settled in. Having no fish food around any longer, she put in a few bread crumbs. And yes, her grandchildren decided to leave the fish with Babi so she would have company. And yes, this morning when my friend checked on the gold fish, one was floating belly up in the water.
Where is my friend now? Heading out to get the proper food and equipment to house the fish. She is determined, however, that the fish are going to go live with her daughter's family. As she put it: "Every mother needs to become adept at performing goldfish funerals. It's a rite of passage."
What we'd both like to understand is why schools and camps think that giving out live goldfish is something positive. The fish never come with instructions for care. They don't come with food. There is an assumption that every house will have just the right container to house the fish. Those goldfish engender discussions about life and death that the moms/kids just may not be ready for yet. I put my foot down and said "no more!" when one such fish, while my kids were eating breakfast not 3 feet away from it, leaped out of its bowl and fell between the dishwasher and the cabinet, where I could not get to it. Watching that fish commit suicide was not on my agenda of "what to talk to the kids about."
Couldn't the kids just be given stickers as prizes?!!!
6 comments:
Ah.... the memories....
We too, are proud owners of a goldfish that is a descendant (not really) of our very first fish, that came to us - you guessed it - in a ziploc bag as a day camp carnival prize on a FRIDAY AFTERNOON, no less....
Does anybody ever acquire a goldfish for the first time of their own free will? :) (of course once you have one, you've got to replace them for the children's sake....you know... now this gets me thinking that the pet stores are in cahoots with the day camps! This is how they get their business!!)
See my fishy posts here and here.
Oh God no, anything but the goldfish! Going to agree with G6 that pet stores are in cahoots with day camps and schools to get rid of the things. First time it happened to me I called my mom in a panic. She couldn't stop laughing. Basically she said "welcome to motherhood."
We used to call them "disposable goldfish". My mother wouldn't let us take them home, but when we did we never expected to have them live through the night.
We had friends who went and bought a tank, etc. That fish lived for years. The rest of us just watched the tanks in the doctors offices.
I admit it: I am a murderess. I poured out a fish into a rainy gutter the night it came home. I do *not* welcome unexpected pets into my home.
I remember the days of the 10 cent goldfish from the fairs. First we purchased a 10 gallon tank to hold the 2 fish. Then we bought gravel, electric filter, filter supplies, water treatment supplies and "fish toys" to create a happy atmosphere for the fish. I think my central A/C cost less to run than the fish tank filter that ran 24/7.
Of course the day came when 1 of the fish died. While my kids were at pre-school, I went to Woolworth's (does anyone remember Woolworth's) pet department and tried to explain to the kid working there why I needed 1, and only 1, fish and it had to be the one with a spot on its tail. I was not ready to explain the short life span of a goldfish to 2 & 5year olds, so I needed that fish....the one there...no not that one..that one, with the spot.
Given the emphasis on being kind to animals, you would think the practice of giving living things as prizes would have stopped!
That's how we teach our kids about the sanctity of life. Obviously. Why isn't your friend raising hell with the camp?
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