Monday, February 28, 2011

RIP Fishy Fishstick and Mr. Nice Logan

Logan's beloved (although I was the one feeding him and cleaning his tank) beta fish, Fishy Fishstick, decided  a couple weeks ago (Feb. 16, exactly 8 months to the day that we bought him) that he no longer had the will to live in his little tank. He decided he'd try his hand at the outside world and apparently jumped out of his tank when I accidentally knocked his lid off (for literally 10 seconds, maybe!). I didn't see it happen and didn't notice he was missing until hours later when I was cleaning off the bar and picked up what I thought was a piece of an old, brown, shriveled up banana peel. I carried it to the trash and realized it really doesn't look like a banana, but what in the heck was it?? Oh no. Fishy Fishstick. Before I could even think about it, I threw it in the trash can and washed my hands. Yuck. Then I spent forever evaluating how it could have happened. I had no idea that it is apparently pretty common for fish to jump out of their tanks, but according to the guy at Petsmart, it is.

When I picked Logan up at school I told him about Fishy and he just kept asking how he jumped out and wanting to know where he was now. I told him he was in Heaven. That seemed to satisfy him pretty well, although he brings it up on occasion asking if Fishy is still up in the sky. That night we went to Petsmart and he picked out another beta fish (although when we pulled up he told us he was "maybe going to pick out a different kind of pet"--I don't think so, sir. Beta or bust), this time a little orange one he decided to name "Smalls." No clue where that name came from, but he was pretty dead set on it. So he and Smalls have been getting along famously, although Fishy Fishstick's memory will live on and his death will haunt me forever.

To go along with this story (sort of), Logan's attitude has been in serious need of an adjustment for the past week. I mean, he only wants me and he even gives me attitude and just flat out disobeys, but he whines and is just plain ugly to anyone who talks to him basically. I think he hasn't been feeling good, but I have a hard time dealing with that behavior, sick or not.

Anyway, so my sister, Logan, and I were at Chipotle yesterday eating lunch and we were talking about his bad attitude. The conversation went something like this:

Heather: I sure do miss Mr. Nice Logan. Where did he go?
Logan: I don't know. I think maybe he died and now it's only Mr. Mean Logan.
Me: When did he die?
Logan: He's in the sky with Fishy Fishstick.

Okay, kid, you're not helping your cause...we already joke about him being bipolar, now do we have to worry about multiple personalities?? I'm only kidding, I understand those are very serious conditions, but truly, this child's behavior/attitude/personality changes on a dime. Literally, one minute he's screaming and mad, next minute he's happy and laughing. His moods swing so much that it has me thinking he has hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) because if he gets in a really foul mood it's usually because he needs to eat. Give him something to snack on and he's a different child completely. I asked the nurse practitioner about it today and she said some kids are just like that and that he's so skinny (why can't I have that problem??) that he needs to eat high-calorie foods that will sustain him longer. Lucky. Let's just hope Mr. Nice Logan makes a reappearance soon. For the sake of my sanity.

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