Norm and Nemo {Sunday Snapshot}

Our beloved beta, Norman, did not survive his water change this week and went on to be with Jesus.

Which was traumatic for all involved.  I'm pretty sure I butchered the concept of Heaven and completely freaked out Perry.  Score one for Mommy.

Perry could not at all grasp that Norman was in heaven because his body was still in the tank.  I was afraid if he just woke up and Norman wasn't there he'd freak, and I wanted to take this as an opportunity to do a little "funeral" and bury Norman and try to introduce this whole heaven concept in the most practical way I could.  

Worst. Idea. Ever.

So, I tried to explain how the good part of us, our soul, flies to heaven when we die.  Stupid me.  Way too much for a 4 year old.  So P was like, "The inside is in heaven but the outside isn't?"  So then I said we could flush him in the toilet and he could swim to heave like Nemo did.

"NO!!!!  Because if we flush him to the Ocean, he might get eaten by the sharks!  Besides Mommy... our potty water doesn't go to the ocean.  It goes to a sep-sic tank and we don't want Norman to go where all the {insert potty words} goes (I know, I know... a bit much).  AND Mommy, when the big machines come to empty our sep-sic tank, they'll suck up Norman up the big big hose and it will be yucky!"

Kids gotta point.

So, we talked about burying Norman somewhere special.

"NO!!!! Because that would be scary and we don't want Norman to be scared.  Plus, there's no water in the ground for Norman to swim in."

True dat.

So, Perry's plan was to put Norman in a plastic bag and set him on the counter.  For forever. 

#gross

So, when P was busy watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates, I sent Norman to the big ocean in the sky via the Porcelain Express and told P to come look that Norman flew on to heaven.

Epic fail and pandemonium pursued and apparently that wasn't the right answer either.

I felt like a failure on all accounts and felt totally heartbroken for my little guy.

So, I did what any mom would do.  I told him we could go buy another fish!

It wasn't an instant fix-all, but it produced smiles and took the sting away.

And so, we proudly introduce you to the two newest Murphrees: Norm and Nemo.

#letspraytheyarehardylittlesuckers