Our First Pet

Jerry Beethoven Ferrara

Meet Jerry Beethoven Ferrara, our first pet.  He is a male betta fish who happens to be hot pink.  How did we acquire such a pet you may ask?  We didn't acquire it, we actually purchased him!  The story goes something like this:  Sable and Ruby wanted to go to the pet store to visit cuddly puppies, kitties, and the like.  PetSmart neighbors the new grocery store, Trader Joe's, and the girls asked for the tenth or hundredth time (it's all the same) to "go in" PetSmart.

Guess what? No dogs.  Guess what else? Kitties in the back.  What did the kids find but lots of mice, a dozen rats and hundreds of fish.  I pulled a "Back in my day kids, we used to have parakeets, puppies, gerbils and all kinds of fun pets in the store."  Of course that story didn't interest them but the fish tanks sure did. 

In a rare moment I was that mom  and said yes to buying a pet!  (I was also kind of in a hurry to get out of the fish tank aisle since Joel was trying to catch fish and his hands had been in half a dozen aquarium tanks.)

The sales associate conveniently upsold me--in my rare moment--hot pink and crystal colored sea shells and sparkly diamonds as well as a fuschia-purple tree.  When I asked why we needed a fake plastic tree, she said the fish needed it to sleep.  Again, key words: rare moment, I bought it.

That was part one of the adventure.  Part two has been fun yet tiring for both me and the girls--For the girls, they spent hours deciding on his name.  Ruby wanted Elizabeth until Sable reminded her that they picked a boy fish.  After hours of oscillating between various compellations, they harmoniously settled on JERRY BEETHOVEN FERRARA.  As for me, I'm tired because I've had the motherly responsibility (I mean, pleasure) of playing 20 Questions not to mention there are 20 more questions for which we need to google answers...such as Ruby's interrogative, "Do fish sleep with their eyes open or shut?"

...and if you're wondering where our daughters came up with their fabulous fish name; well, he is named after our IT technician Jerry, and Beethoven happens to be their new favorite movie....either that or they realized that "Elizabeth Rapunzel" just won't do for a boy pet.