I guess I only blog about once a year, but hey I guess it is better late than never. I have so many thoughts I have jotted down in my email. Now I just have to post them. One of them is this....
About two months ago we bought Ipo a pet....a fish. He was so excited that day. The fish was a prize for him becoming potty trained. He named him Nemo. He loved Nemo. Well Nemo was never very active and wasn't the best eater. We noticed these last few days he had been laying on the floor of the aquarium. Well Jose went to change/clean his water today and when I saw Nemo I was shocked. He was visibly emaciated. He barely moved and only breathed every few seconds. He didn't look right. We knew we would have to have the "talk" with Ipolito this afternoon. It wasn't something either one of us was ooking forward to. But, it had to be done.
After dinner we called him over to talk to him. I think he knew what was going to happen because all he said was "My fish died. Look at him." But I don't think he got it. I explained the fish was sick and Jesus needed him in heaven. Of course he wanted to know why. I tried to keep it simple & repeat sometimes things we love die & he was going to keep Jesus company and be ok in heaven. I told him Nemo would have fun there. He kind of got mad at that. He said we need to take him to the doctor or hospital to get well. I told him they don't make hospitals for fish. He said, "Yes they do. There is the one Jack live in." I told him that hospital is for little boys and girls. They have some for grown ups too but not fish. He just didn't understand. He said, "I just want my fish to get well again." Then, "I don't care about my fish" & he stormed off to his room. We just looked at each other.
We went after him and as we got closer to his room we heard him crying. He was in his bed face down crying....hard with his pillow over his face. It. Broke. My. Heart. I started crying and held him in my arms. I tried consoling & calming him down. He said he didn't want his fish to die. He wanted him to get well again. We tried telling him it was ok and Jesus was going to take are of him in heaven & he would be healed. We told him we would get him another one and he said he didn't care and he didn't want another one. Finally he said he would take another one. Tomorrow we will buy him another.
This experience broke my heart. It also showed me how smart our little guy is. He truly understood and was in pain. We decided it was best Jose took care of the fish (flush him) while he and I were gone. We thought it would be too traumatic for him to see it going through the toilet since it is so close to him being fully potty trained. We think it would scare him.
Most of the time as this was going on Jose and I kept looking at each other. We didn't know what to do or think. At points we kept looking at each other and smiling not because it was funny but because he was cute & we were amazed at his level of thinking. Or.... We are like Claire in Modern Family. Either or we have made it through another parenting challenge/crisis/first together. Whew....
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