adieu, theotheotheo

 
TheoTheo Couscous

TheoTheoTheo, the beloved beta fish of Theo, bit the dust yesterday. He looked ill when we went down for breakfast, and I swear he was pleading for me to help him, but there was nothing I could do. It was awful.

Since we only had him for four days, I thought it better to just replace him than to explain to Theo that he died. I don't want them thinking when they get a pet it is going to die in a few days. So Jonathan picked up a new red beta on his way home from work. A very small, very red beta. It was the largest one they had. Jonathan felt sure the boys would know it was not the same fish. I was considering telling them it was a replacement. At dinner Gus did ask me if we cook Root-ee and TheoTheoTheo for supper some night, so he would probably be okay. But poor Theo. It was his namesake.

So this morning we go down to the kitchen, Theo walks over to his fish bowl and says, "Good morning TheoTheoTheo. Hey! That's not TheoTheoTheo!" Hmmmmm . . .

This evening while we were getting ready for supper Gus asked "Mum, how did Theo's fish get redder and smaller?"

And then Theo heard Gus calling the fish TheoTheoTheo, and he said "That's Couscous."

So Theo seems to have accepted that TheoTheoTheo has been mysteriously replaced by Couscous, but I am thinking we will have to come clean tomorrow before Gus starts worrying that he himself may shrink and change colors while sleeping. His imagination has been a little wild lately.