mommyof2bettas
(\/)4R'/... betta freak
This is a story from my book, found it to be about one of the only stories about fish. The book is "Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul".
The Birds, The Bees, and the Guppies
The sex education of a child is pretty important. None of us want to blow it.
I have a horror of ending up like the woman in the old joke who was asked by her child where he came from and, after she explained all the technical process in a well-chosen vocabulary, he looked at her intently and said "I just wondered. Mike came from Hartford, Connecticut."
I figured I had the problem whipped the day my son took an interest in fish. What better way to explain the beautiful reproduction cycle of life than through the animal kingdom? We bought two pairs of guppies and a small aquarium. That was our first mistake. We should either have bought four females and a small aquarium, four males and a small aquarium, or two pairs and a reservoir. I had heard of population explosions before, but this was ridiculous! The breakfast conversation went something like this:
"What's new at Peyton Place by the Sea?" inquire my husband.
"Mrs. Guppy is e-n-c-e-i-n-t-e again" I'd spell.
"Put a little salt in the water. That'll cure anything," he mumbled.
"Daddy," said my son, "that means she's pregnant."
"Again!" choked Daddy "Can't we organize an intramural volleyball game in there or something?"
The first aquarium begat a second aquarium, with no relief in sight. "Are you getting anything out of your experience with guppies?" I asked delicately one afternoon. "Oh, yeah, they're neat," my son exlaimed enthusiastically.
"I mean, now that you've watched the male and the female, do you understand the process that go into the offspring? Have you noticed the role of the mother in all this?"
"Yeah" he said, bright-eyed. "You oughta see her eat her babies."
We added a third aquarium, which was promptly illed with saltwater and three pairs of seahorses.
"Now I want you to pay attention to the female," I instructed. "The chances are it won't take long for her to be with child, and perhaps you can see her giving birth."
"The female doesn't give birth mom," he explained. "The male seahorses give birth."
I felt myself smiling, perhaps anticipating a trend. "Ridicoulous," I said. "Females always give birth."
The male began to take on weight. I thought I saw his ankles swell. He became a mother on the twenty-third of the month.
"That's pretty interesting," said my son, "I hope I'm not a mother when I grow up, but if I am, I hope my kids are born on land."
I blew it. I knew I would.
This was a true story, made me laugh
The Birds, The Bees, and the Guppies
The sex education of a child is pretty important. None of us want to blow it.
I have a horror of ending up like the woman in the old joke who was asked by her child where he came from and, after she explained all the technical process in a well-chosen vocabulary, he looked at her intently and said "I just wondered. Mike came from Hartford, Connecticut."
I figured I had the problem whipped the day my son took an interest in fish. What better way to explain the beautiful reproduction cycle of life than through the animal kingdom? We bought two pairs of guppies and a small aquarium. That was our first mistake. We should either have bought four females and a small aquarium, four males and a small aquarium, or two pairs and a reservoir. I had heard of population explosions before, but this was ridiculous! The breakfast conversation went something like this:
"What's new at Peyton Place by the Sea?" inquire my husband.
"Mrs. Guppy is e-n-c-e-i-n-t-e again" I'd spell.
"Put a little salt in the water. That'll cure anything," he mumbled.
"Daddy," said my son, "that means she's pregnant."
"Again!" choked Daddy "Can't we organize an intramural volleyball game in there or something?"
The first aquarium begat a second aquarium, with no relief in sight. "Are you getting anything out of your experience with guppies?" I asked delicately one afternoon. "Oh, yeah, they're neat," my son exlaimed enthusiastically.
"I mean, now that you've watched the male and the female, do you understand the process that go into the offspring? Have you noticed the role of the mother in all this?"
"Yeah" he said, bright-eyed. "You oughta see her eat her babies."
We added a third aquarium, which was promptly illed with saltwater and three pairs of seahorses.
"Now I want you to pay attention to the female," I instructed. "The chances are it won't take long for her to be with child, and perhaps you can see her giving birth."
"The female doesn't give birth mom," he explained. "The male seahorses give birth."
I felt myself smiling, perhaps anticipating a trend. "Ridicoulous," I said. "Females always give birth."
The male began to take on weight. I thought I saw his ankles swell. He became a mother on the twenty-third of the month.
"That's pretty interesting," said my son, "I hope I'm not a mother when I grow up, but if I am, I hope my kids are born on land."
I blew it. I knew I would.
This was a true story, made me laugh
Great story.
