Well, the goldfish finally died. It wasn't at all the way I expected her to go. But in true Leena the Goldfish form, she died teaching us a lesson.
Yesterday morning, after Emma had finished her breakfast I told her to go brush her teeth and get ready for church. "Okay!" came her normal response. About 5 minutes later I hear a loud crash coming from the kids' room and then Emma crying. I rush to see what happened only to find water coming from the bedroom into the hallway, Jaedon's dresser lying face down on the floor, and Emma surrounded by the rocks that should have been in the bottom of the fish tank. "Is she dead?" Emma cried as she pointed to her goldfish lying motionless on the floor.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no..." I chanted as I ran back to the kitchen to find a bowl to fill with water. As I reached to pick up the fish she started to flop around. It freaked me out. The kids just laughed. Finally I got her picked up and put into the bowl.
Then came the task of cleaning up five gallons of water off the hardwood floor. Thankfully I had the kids do a thorough cleaning only a day or two before so there were no books or toys on the floor. Just lots of water and a broken fish tank.
Forty minutes later it was finally clean. Unfortunately for Emma there were also some consequences. She has been told several times not to use the dresser drawers as steps because it could tip over the dresser. Well, that's exactly what she had done that caused the dresser to fall. Secondly, she has been using, "Oh, I'm sorry. I got distracted," as an excuse for why she isn't doing what she had been told to do. Had she been doing what I had told her, none of the drama would have occurred. So, she had to be punished for her disobedience.
Oh, did I mention it was her birthday yesterday? I hadn't even had a chance to say, "happy birthday," yet. So, sorry Emma, Happy birthday, now go see Dad and get your spanking. Yeah, that felt great, but it was necessary. Disobedience has consequences.
We came to an agreement of how Emma could pay for a new fish tank. After all, it was her fish, her accident, her responsibility to make it right. (And after all God has used that fish to teach me, I couldn't in good conscience let it live out the remainder of it's days in a mixing bowl). So, on our way home from seeing family that evening we stopped at Wal-Mart and picked out a new tank.
When we got home, Jaedon went to their room to check on Leena. "The fish is dead!" he yelled. Emma went running to her room, "Serious?" she asked. Sure enough, poor Leena was floating in the bowl. "How did she die, Mom?" Emma asked. "Well, I guess she was just without air for too long."
We gave Leena a proper burial - in the toilet - after we said a prayer. And I think Emma finally learned (the hard way) that disobedience has consequences. Sometimes life-long consequences.
...but... Emma got a bunny for her birthday. Who knows what lessons God will teach us through the newest member of the family.
No comments:
Post a Comment