Sorry to disappoint those who are actively interested in the life and times of the Hart Guppies, but today my guppy update is not about guppies. It’s about the “why” of it all. My sister and I were recently chatting about my affinity for the guppy soap opera posts. It occurs to me that some may read my post and wonder “Why, oh why, does this woman care so much about her guppies? They’re fish! Does she not realize that fish are boring?” Or whatever may cross their bewildered minds.
What I can tell you is…guppies are not my teenagers and sometimes my teenagers MAKE ME CRAZY(er).
I read a number of blogs by very articulate, well spoken women who have pre-teens and younger at home. I envy these women. Their children are cute and witty and say precious quotable quips and are, in general, quite precocious. I even know of at least one who has teens, but her home-schooling efforts yielded an idyllic harmonious household and well balanced young adults. I struggle with feelings of envy whenever I read about her lovely family. I remind myself: “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30) I do not want rotten bones, so I put my trust in the LORD.
Because if I don’t, my teenagers, on occasion, MAKE ME CRAZY(er).
Guppies, while living out their own little melodramas of love, romance, and death from overdoing “it,” are not my teenagers. They are relatively peaceful in the confinement of their tank. I don’t have to worry about where they are going, who they will be with, what they will be doing. They don’t fail classes they could easily pass. They don’t have to be trusted on a daily basis when they are out of my sight, out of range of my loving, neurotic, overprotective gaze. I’ve been dealing with my teens for ~10 years and there are only ~5 more years to go. For the most part, I resist the temptation to use this site to rant about my angst directly but sometimes it spills over. Mostly I try to focus on the positive. Express my faith. My love. And sometimes, just for fun, I talk about fish.
I actually have a tank full of very peaceful tetras, but the few guppies in there are the most entertaining. Because they eat their young? Maybe. I kinda understand how that could happen.
Peace,
You just keep gazing upon those guppies and updating us. We, your audience, are charmed by your obsession with the guppies, although, personally, slightly horrified by the totally sex-crazed male guppies. I mean I know they like sex, but they WORE HER OUT. That is just wrong.
LOL. Look for Saturday’s update.
Lifting you up as a woman who takes care of herself so that she can care for her family. Even if, her therapy is being a voyeur to trapped aquatic animals. I’m looking forward to the next episode of Desparate Fishwives. Agape.