Hello. I'm a stay-at-home mom with 1 husband, 2 sons, 1 dog, 1 cat, and 11 goldfish.

My 3 year old son loves to touch everything, especially tiny living things like worms and goldfish.  We have both at our house.  The worms are in our front yard and surface by the dozens after a rainstorm.  For the fish, I buy feeder fish (12 for $1.00) to keep in an inexpensive, basic aquarium.  My total investment for fish was less than $20 and it keeps him amused everyday.   However, I was raised as a compassionate person who knows these are living creatures who don't deserve to be poked, stuffed in a bottle, thrown in a bathtub, and otherwise treated unethically.  My conscience tells me to take the fish away until my son is older and more understanding.  But my heart loves to see him play and laugh and talk to the fish.  He does his best to take care of them (as only a 3 year old could) and he doesn't intentionally hurt them.   He proclaims himself a "fish expert" and tells me he knows everything about fish.  He helped me put gravel, plants, and driftwood in the aquarium.  He feeds them daily and helps me change the water weekly.  I feel he's learning more about nature and science than 1000 trips to SeaWorld.  And yet.... I still feel great remorse when one of them dies an untimely death.  As with everything with kids, there's no easy answer.  All I can do as a parent is continue to play referee and make sure the fish get their fair share in this game of life.