murder at our house

Maddie won three goldfish at a birthday party last week and was ecstatic. I was a little more worried than happy--our history with pets has not been spectacular, to say the least. But Charlene, Gracie and Kaddie became immediate beloved pets that Maddie lovingly fed, watched over and talked to. Until last night. I (very accidentally, might I add) dropped Gracie when I was changing the water. Maddie was devastated. There was a lot of screaming and crying.

When I noticed about 11 last night that Gracie didn't survive the fall, I drove to Wal-mart and replaced her. I didn't think I could face Maddie in the morning with a dead fish. But when I woke up this morning I discovered that the new Gracie had died, too. I fessed up to kids and we concluded that the new Gracie must have been killed by her bowl mates. In cold blood, naturally. They are fish. But apparently not nice fish. We have officially renamed them Wilkes and Booth after another murderer.

And please, do not give us any more pets.