Freddy Octopus

Yesterday we mourned the loss of our betta fish, Freddy Octopus.  I bought him last March as our preschool fish.  We discussed possible names for the fish and then the kids voted.  The name that got the most votes was Octopus.  I explained to the kids that this name might be kind of confusing and that their parents might think that we have an actual octopus as a class pet.  (Apparently some still told their parents that this was the fish's name, and parents did think I had bought an octopus.)  So we added a first name to our fish and he was dubbed Freddy Octopus.

While teaching our month on Ocean animals, I was praying that Freddy would live for the entire month-long unit.  The kids enjoyed taking turns feeding him each day.  Freddy survived the month and continued to live; I was very surprised.  After preschool ended for the school year, I took over the job of feeding him each day because I was the only one who would remember to feed him; Matt had the fun job of cleaning out the fish tank every so often.  I found that I started to get a little attached, especially as Freddy seemed to be waiting every morning for me to remember to feed him.  He became a little annoying when he was still alive during the summer months when we did some vacationing, and I actually had to pay people to take care of our fish (I say this in jest--not a huge deal).

About a week ago, mischievous Carter climbed up and dumped a good amount of fish food in the fish tank.  I thought this would for sure end Freddy's life even though I was able to fish out (excuse the pun) most of what he dumped in.  As the days have gone on this past week, I noticed that the food I fed Freddy each morning sank to the bottom untouched.  Freddy started spending more and more time in his cave and swam a lot less.  The untouched food started disintegrating and leaving a little layer of film on top of the water.  I thought this might be the cause of Freddy's inactivity--he needed his fish tank cleaned out.  So Matt finally did it yesterday morning.  We went to Chick Fil A as a family for lunch, and when we came home, Freddy had passed on.

We pondered the cause of death (was it the dirty tank, the clean tank, Carter's excessive feeding that one day?), but I think we settled on the fact that with the cold front we experienced, the water was too cold for Freddy.  From what I read, this explains the reasons he didn't swim or eat as much.

While I was practicing the organ at the church last night, Matt had a little funeral service with the boys for Freddy Octopus.  (I didn't want to have anything to do with it.)  Apparently I wasn't the only one that got a little attached to the fish.  Carter went into a crying frenzy for 20 minutes where Matt couldn't get him to calm down!  Matt said that Carter finally calmed down when Matt suggested burying Freddy in one of the front flower beds so that Freddy could see all the pretty Christmas lights in our yard.  Caleb was very matter-of-fact about it all and told us the reason we needed to bury the fish in our garden was so that we can be like the Pilgrims who planted fish to help fertilize the planting lands.  I wanted to record this because this will probably be our first and last family pet, and Carter's reaction to it all was too funny.  

All joking aside, the deaths I am really mourning are those who lost their life in the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting.  With a son in Kindergarten, I was definitely shaken up and have shed tears on multiple occasions as I imagine what those families who lost a loved one must be feeling right now.  I debated whether to talk to Caleb about it, but in the end I decided to.  It was a good teaching opportunity to discuss how bad things happen in the world and people make bad choices at times.  But the hope that comes through our Savior, Jesus Christ helps us know that we will see our loved ones again someday.