You may have read my post on Nemo, and how useful he’s been in maintaining some semblance of toddler discipline. If not, you can find the full rundown here. (I said “some” semblance. Peanut continues to act utterly wild about 97.6% of the time.)
Nemo was really ingraining himself into our lives, and I was, admittedly, becoming attached to the little guy. He was part of the family. Then, last Saturday, my husband woke up, and checked on him. “Nemo’s not looking good,” he said. Sure enough, Nemo had taken on a grey-ish tone. Over the course of the day I monitored him, but by late afternoon Nemo had met a premature end.* In the interest of Peanut I decided to leave the fish in its tank overnight, a decision I’m not entirely proud of. It’s slightly morbid, and a little gross, certainly. But you may have done the same thing (had it inspired your toddler to actually listen). And really, it turned out ok. “Ne-no’s sleeping,” she pointed out. All was well.
By Sunday, I knew I needed to find a new Nemo, and quickly. Preferably one who looked exactly the same. Of course, this proved to be a virtual impossibility (Peanut had selected the one completely unique Goldfish out there). As per the pet store employee, my options were to wait for a new shipment of fish the following Thursday, or go with something different. Terrified of presenting Peanut with an empty tank, I chose the latter, a completely orange fish (Nemo #1 was black, white and orange spotted). I brought him home, and managed to accomplish a quick switch without Peanut seeing.
That evening, before bed, we did the normal routine. Dinner, bath, then to the room for books and bed. With bated breath (mine), Peanut climbed onto her little stool to inspect the tank, and her pet.
Smiling, she looked to him and said, “Ne-no change color. I choose Ne-no.”
“Night Ne-no.”
And I exhaled.
*We’re still not sure exactly the cause of Nemo #1’s demise. I’m happy to report that Nemo #2 is in good health and spirits.
Several years back, we attempted to have some guppies in a tank. We all selected a fish; mine was a little bluish fella. Well, I think we killed at least a dozen guppies, before I put my foot down and refused to rack up more bad karma. In the end we decided it was the water that wasn’t right and we gave up on fish.
Best of luck with Ne-no!
RIP Nemo #1
I’m so glad Nemo #2 has adjusted well and been accepted by all. Isn’t it amazing what you can convince a two-year old of?
Oh thank goodness for that! Glad to hear the switch was a success.
Cute story, and so glad your daughter just thought #2 was #1 with changed colors!
Your daughter sounds a lot like me when I was that age. I am pretty sure that my mom pulled the same stunt on me.
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I absolutely love that she calls him Ne-no! Fingers crossed she doesn’t start asking questions.
Whew! Close call but good thinking on your part!
Nemo could change his “outfit”. 
Very cute! It’s funny that they can pick things out like that, she seemed to have taking the switch perfectly!!
Lynn
Oh gosh, I’m glad it worked out. That is so super cute. I don’t think there’s a “cause of death” with these animals
Ours died during the hurricane. We thought we were returning to the city but when the hurricane hit, we couldn’t and he couldn’t wait 3 days for food. I was actually pretty torn up about it and still fill bad we forgot him but Sebastian didn’t notice AT ALL.