Saying Goodbye to Ohmy

My daughter’s fish, Ohmy*, is on his last fins. Poor guy has been looking terrible lately, and Chase and I aren’t sure he’s going to make it through the night. He’s been more or less lying on the rocks in his tank all day. We’re hoping he will come around, but oi. So sad.

*so named because when she first got him, Butterbean kept saying “Oh my fish! Oh my fish!”

We debated whether or not to tell the Bean. Do we prepare her for the worst ahead of time? Wait til he passes away and explain it then? Don’t tell her at all and replace Ohmy with another fish?

I’m not going to lie – when our little fishy friend’s time is up,  I WANT to replace him and pretend nothing happened. Butterbean loves Ohmy, and I’d like so badly to shelter her from the pain of losing him. In the end, though, Chase and I sat her down and explained that her fish is very old and he might not be here for very much longer.

It really sucks, but I think it’s important for Bean to know the truth. I don’t want to unnecessarily shelter her from negative experiences. It doesn’t do her any favours in the long run; you can’t raise your kids in a bubble, and then assume they will be able to competently cope with all of the crap the real world will hurl at them when you aren’t around to protect them (but oh man, it would be nice if you could).

Butterbean is okay with Ohmy’s situation (I don’t think she quite grasps what death is yet). She is a little sad, but she took it better than we thought. Still, I hope Ohmy goes on to live a good few months more  (preferably 18 years or so), because I’d rather postpone this particular negative experience just a little bit longer.