Now that Mr. Man is four he has been seeking ways to take on more responsibility around our home. He is seeing himself as a capable contributor and wants to have his own to do lists and chores most days. I even had the opportunity to hear him say, “I’ve got dinner tonight mom!”, and he did! He has prepared our dinners (with guidance and support) a few times now. He sees these new capabilities as evidence that he is getting older and more responsible and used them in his reasoning for why he is ready for his own pet. We have three birds in our family but Mr. Man does not see them as his pets, and they make him too nervous to interact with in a meaningful way. Our Green Cheek Conure is still very nippy and unpredictable so while Mr. Man would love to help care for her, and train her, he is very nervous. Over the course of a few weeks we entertained different imaginings of the pets he could have. He considered dogs but he was concerned they would scare him when they bark. He mentioned maybe a lizard but he quickly changed his mind when we looked up what they would eat. He was very excited about the idea of a hamster and we imagined for a while what that would be like. He realized while we thought about it that he wouldn’t want to hold the hamster, and he didn’t really want to care for it either. He really just wanted to build it mazes and watch it solve them. We agreed that a hamster probably would not be a great fit. One evening I was at a pet store on my own and I saw a beautiful Betta fish. I decided to surprise him with a pet that I knew he would be capable of fully providing for (although with the knowledge that it was still my responsibility). When we got home Mr. Man was thrilled to set up the aquarium for his new pet Fishy the betta. We did it together, cleaning the gravel, setting up the décor and plants, assembling the filter. When the tank was finished cycling and at an appropriate temperature he very carefully released his new friend into his tank. We decided to keep the tank in the living space to ensure Fishy received supervised care. For now Mr. Man is very happy checking the temperature of the water and feeding Fishy daily, and in a week or so I will introduce him to the other big fish care task of a water change. I have always enjoyed keeping Betta fish and I am enjoying watching Mr. Man care for and observe his fish. We will likely extend this experience into a research activity about Bettas. There are so many options- we could look into what foods they can eat as a supplement to their diet. We could learn about their origins and how they live in the wild. We could jump into a unit study on fish and underwater life in general. It will depend on where the most interest lies!