onetiredmama: A Fish Tale
It was the Christmas miracle; two shiny eyes staring up at me. No wait: 2, 4, 6, 8...20 shiny eyes.
Jack's guppy had babies on Christmas Eve, and he spotted the
tiny slivers of silver darting about the aquarium just in time.
We've had guppies for over a year and only saw one baby in all
that time; he wasn't seen after that day. And given how
frequently guppies breed, well I could only imagine how much
shorter the life span was for other batches of spawn turned
appetizers. We spent a while scooping out this lucky bunch,
putting them in their own little tank. "Why are we moving them?"
he asked.
Hmm. "We have to get them away from the other fish so they
don't eat them," I explained.
"But their mommy and daddy will protect them."
Right. "Actually, the mommy and daddy sometimes eat them
too," I said quietly.
Jack was horrified, and I don't really get it either. If
the point for most organisms on this planet is to ensure the
survival of your DNA, why down your progeny for dinner? I suppose
when you can have two dozens kids at a time, there's no harm in
gulping a baby guppy or two. But this scenario forced me for the
first time to pull back the curtain and let Jack in on a secret:
life isn't always fair, and children and babies aren't always
kept safe.
There's so much I don't ever want him to know: that
children are neglected and abused; that people cheat and lie;
that there are no guarantees in this world. I still tell him a
story at bedtime every night from when I was little, but there's
one I can't bear to share yet for this very reason; that my own
father died when I was just four. Jack has known enough special
people in his life who have died that he's already afraid of the
idea. He was devastated to lose two cherished grandparents in one
year, and a pet cat. To know that a parent can die when you're
still a child is not a reality I want to share with him yet.
The circle of life, right here in the rectangle tank
It's great fun as a parent seeing your child's eyes blaze with wonder when you lift rocks to hunt for bugs, when you finally get that kite to catch the wind and take to the skies, or mix paint to make new colors. But it's with a heavy heart that you realize there's much sadness and truth in the world you need to share with them, too.
He took the great guppy truth better than I expected. We
couldn't catch the final 3 babies out of the big tank. "Well,
Jack, should we leave them and hope for the best?"
We'd been working on the transfer for over half an hour at
this point. "Yes," he quickly said, eyeing up his trucks in the
corner of his room. "Let's just hope for the best."
Now that's the lesson I really hope I can impart.
Lisa Scott lives outside of Buffalo, NY with her husband Patrick and their two children Jack and Riley. She co-anchors the morning and noon newscasts at the CBS affiliate.
Lisa learned about the unfair rules of nature with her doomed mini eco-systems she tried to set up every summer. She is still haunted by the baby turtle who was killed by a crayfish.
Comments? Feedback? Kudos? Email Lisa at onetiredmama@modernmom.com
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