Guilty Mother Syndrome

I have it: Guilty Mother Syndrome!

Here's why: When DSs 1 and 2 were about 3 and 4 years old, we went to the fair and played the ping pong ball in the bowl game. And we "won"--not ONE but TWO fish! We had no fish tank or goldfish bowl. We took them home, and put them in a Tupperware bowl on the counter. One died in about 24 hours. The other one, though, was quite a fighter. He was still alive when the bowl turned pretty nasty. And he showed no signs of slowing down. I confess, I flushed him alive! I didn't tell the kids he died...only that I had to get rid of the water and thus, he had to go too. They were a bit heart broken, but soon got over it.

Fifteen years later (tonight) I took DS 4 to the fair. He has been telling me for DAYS that the ONLY thing he wanted to do at the fair was throw the ping pong ball into a bowl for a fish. I've given him hundreds of reasons WHY we shouldn't play that game. I "forgot" to tell him that fish one might die in 24 hours and fish two might be flushed by his fish-killer Mother. I figure some things are simply better left unsaid.

I thought I could distract him. I thought we'd get through the midway without finding a ping pong ball game...and we almost succeeded...except the first Bumper Cars were broken and we ended up on the second one. Right there, off the exit of that ride was the cheapest game on the midway, the Ping Pong Ball Toss.

I let him throw the first ten balls for $2, while I talked to my brother on the cell phone. I TOLD Dan to "pray that none went in"...and they didn't. DS 4 came to me with HUGE crocodile tears and said, "I have two dollars at home, can I PLEASE try one more time? I'll pay for it." I gave in....especially since I was still talking to Dan and his prayer "worked" the first time. I told him to pray again...and soon after my request was made, the FIRST ball landed in the bowl of water....then less than three balls later...the second ball went into the bowl. DS 4 excitedly came over with his two new fish. To say his face was glowing would be an absolute understatement.

Here's where the Guilty Mother Syndrome kicks in. Knowing that I do NOT want to be known as a fish-killer, and wanting to avoid having goldfish slime in a bowl on my counter, I decided that I wanted to help DS 4 be a successful goldfish owner. We went to Petland with his left over Christmas gift cards and he is now the proud owner of this goldfish tank (see below).

Our conversation on the way home was a DS 4 "classic". Holding the two bags gingerly in his lap, he announced, "This one's name is Swimmy. And THIS one is 'Swimmy Joe'." The car grew quiet as I pondered THAT. Then he said, "Swimmy likes me already! He's getting used to me!" He quickly added, "Mom, I think Swimmy Joe is one of those nervous fish. He is missing his home at the fair. But, he'll get used to me soon." Then he proceeded to talk reassuring "fish talk" to this bag of water for the next few minutes.

I "hope" Swimmy Joe IS just missing his home at the fair..and news didn't spread too fast that he was going home with that horrible Mother that killed his great great great great grandfish!

They don't look too stressed, do they??