We often pass by the Kildonan Pet Centre when we are out for a walk and sometimes we go in and look at all the fish. I’d love to have a big, beautiful fish tank for the children but we don’t have enough space for one here – at least not anywhere that the children would be able to see it easily. I do have a small tank that I thought would be suitable for a single Betta Fish.
Before we got a fish we set up the little tank on the table where everyone could see it. I had planned to pick up the fish on the weekend when I could use the car to bring it home. However, on that Friday only two of the four-year-olds were here so I decided it would be OK to take them and walk over to the store to get the fish. Without the toddlers we could walk much quicker and we could have a late lunch without worrying about little ones falling asleep before they finished eating (the store doesn’t open until Noon of Fridays).
We picked out the most beautiful Betta – he loved looking at himself in the mirror we gave him LOL
We tried to name him – everyone had suggestions. The list of possible names included;
- Pumpkin
- Pickno
- Leaf
- Heat Monster
- Crystal
- Coral
- Magic
- Waterbead
- Ladybug
- J.J.
- Gingerbread
- Red Dragon
- Santa
- Wave Rider
- Finnegan
- Freddy
- Franklin
For every suggestion made by one of the preschooler, there was another preschooler that was vehemently opposed. We tried on several occasions but ‘discussions’ often became so heated we had to move on to a different activity. The babies and I just called him ‘Fishy’
All the children (and I) enjoyed watching him swim around in his tank.
Sadly, just two weeks after we got him there was an incident. When I turned on the light in the morning I noticed that Fishy was motionless at the bottom of the tank. He was wedged in the little space between the pinkish ornament (bottom right) and the glass. We believe that sometime overnight he swam in there and couldn’t get out. Since Bettas need to get to the surface for air he probably drowned. 
We buried him in the corner of the garden.
Every time the children walk past the garden as they are playing they call out “Bye Fishy”.
This weekend I bought another Betta. I also moved the tank ornaments so there were no tight spaces. I’ve been calling him ‘Buddy’ – he is much more sociable than Fishy 1. He comes to the glass and stares back whenever anyone looks in the tank. He also seems fearless – the tank thermometer keeps falling to the bottom of the tank and every time I fix it he has to come and see what I’m doing. Maybe he’s territorial – he has been building a lovely bubble nest.
Today we’ll see what the children think of this new fish – and what they might call him.
Probably simply ‘Fishy 2’.
