Anyone who knows me will readily admit that I’m basically a dictator at home – at least whenever nobody else is there; I’m practically a tyrant when I’m alone. Sure, when the ladies come home, they may think they have a say in all the family matters, but that is just my clever ploy to exert total control over their lives through my own conformity. It’s brilliant really. Still, on one matter my word is unquestionably law – there are no pets allowed in our home.
It’s not that I have anything against the idea of owning a pet. In my own idyllic childhood, my brothers and I owned rats, gerbils, guinea pigs, turtles, fish, cats, dogs and even the occasional snake or toad. Heck, I once had a pet cockroach named Reggie (don’t ask). My reasoning is simple: I didn’t think my child is prepared to care for pets (and I didn’t want to look after them), we are gone too long in the summer (pets don’t do well left on their own for two months), and what Reina really wants is a cat. Never going to happen. I’m allergic; end of story.
So, overlord that I am, I was a bit annoyed when someone brought over a couple of “kissing fish” as a gift for Reina the other day. This gift arrived in a small cup of water with a little packet of fish food; the kind of food these fish don’t actually eat. Fortunately we had an aquatic plant that grows plenty of algae, something kissing fish readily munch on. So we let Reina plunk the fish in the bowl and she watched them for a minute before pronouncing them boring. At least she finally has pets.
Well, a pet, as one of the fish died in the first week due to the harassment of the other (typical male behavior). When Reina noticed “Floaty” there was no trauma. She said, “It’s only a fish, Baba.” Meanwhile, the other fish, Pinky, seems quite at home and Reina is content to look at him while eating breakfast. Maybe by summer Pinky will join Floaty in the great fish bowl beyond. I know Reina wants another pet. Something fluffier. Fortunately, I’ve laid down the law. Well, maybe hamster wouldn’t be that bad, but we’re not getting a cat.
Photo by ɐılnɾ of flickr
