There’s a saying that goes, when a child hands you a toy telephone, you answer it. So when my boss’s 8-year-old daughter needed someone to look after her goldfish while the family goes on vacation, I took that responsibility seriously!
The fish, named Silver and Gold, will live with us for two weeks in a Spice-proof bowl. Because social media is so much fun to toy with, I put out this message on Twitter:
“I have agreed to fish-sit. Taking sincere fish-sitting tips that do not include butter, broiling, frying or otherwise disrespecting Mr. Fish.”
Some of the advice was very practical such as, keep the tank clean and don’t overfeed him. And my friends didn’t let me down in the humour department either.
Richard: If subject appears to be upside-down, discontinue feeding.
Peter: Walk twice a day.
Dan: For goodness sake, don’t overwater them! At bedtime, a chapter of Moby Dick is always appreciated.
Noel: Take a pic on your cellphone. That way when Goldie dies you can go to Petsmart and buy a replacement for 50¢ and nobody will know the difference.
Michele (my cousin): I suppose breading and BBQing are out of the question?
George: Say “fish-sitting tips” three times quickly!
I will take the food, water cleanliness and probably the cellphone picture ideas to heart!
As a kid, on more than one occasion our gold fish decided to explore the world around them and jumped out of their bowl. So hopefully lessons have been learned from the past and the bowl has a lid.
I looked after neighbours fish and it died. Really, I’m not joking here. So I emailed the parents so they could break it to the kids gently before they got home however they did not get the email and their little girl came rushing to my door as soon as they arived home to ask me how her fish were and I had to deliver the news…she broke out crying on me. Hope you have better luck.
The bowl does have a lid. And I have already decided that if this fish kicks it, I will replace it with another one and my little friend will never know. I won’t even tell her Dad!
Here is another tip. If your cleaning or replacing water, allow the water to sit over night first before using to allow the chlorine found in tap water to evaporate and come to room temperature
Thanks. I got that one from the fishy owner. Makes sense.