Now, at age 17, (what’s up with age 17? ) Kaylee needed fish.  Guppies.  Couldn’t pick a pretty colorful fish, it had to be guppies.  I reminded her that Dad & I fed the guinea pigs, Dad & I watered the dogs, Dad & I cleaned up the guinea pig cages, Dad & I were the only ones who actually DO poop duty.  And Dad & I were absolutely NOT taking care of any fish!

So the deal became….SHE buys the fish, SHE buys the tank and supplies, SHE cleans the bowl….Or SHE loses privileges.  We even had her sign a ’contract’ with the ‘rules’ and ‘consequences’.  Surely this would work, right? 

One day she comes home with 15 guppies.  A few died here and there….some ate some of the others, and some died after being dropped on the table or flopping on the floor during bowl cleaning.  (They cannot swim when they are all bent in half)

And let’s just say that ‘Middle Child’ walks past the bright green algae infested bowl almost on a daily basis asking ‘When is Kaylee going to clean the fish?”  (Yeah, so no…the whole ‘contract’ thing didn’t work)

By the way.  We are down to just two fish and one baby one.  (Somewhere along the line, one of the original 15 had babies!  For some reason things seem to reproduce in our household)

Here’s a pic of the fish bowl that she ‘promised’ to clean.  The smaller green jar next to it houses the baby fish.  That’s not cleaned either. 

I promise...I'll clean the fish tank!

I promise...I

Related Posts with Thumbnails