When my eldest son turned 6, his godmother gave him a fancy goldfish. He was so excited and quickly named him “Frankie”. He sat for hours every day trying to teach his new fish to sit, rollover, and raise his “paw” and give a high five. 
Mostly because he thought all animals if they were a pet, should be able to do the same things as a dog. I was waiting for the day he wanted a leash to take him to the park! 
I spent many days trying to tell him the difference between dogs and fish in their capabilities of being a pet. He wasn’t having it. He was determined Frankie was different. It seemed like every spare second, he had he was with Frankie coaxing him to learn his new tricks.
After a week of trying he was heartbroken that his new friend, wasn’t learning so quickly, but that wasn’t deterring him from continually trying. He would tell anyone who would listen to him all about Frankie. He would go into detail about the magical powers of his fish to learn new tricks. My son had determination and patience with Frankie when it came to schooling his fish.
One Saturday he came downstairs in the morning and as I was making breakfast he walked over to the counter by the window where Frankie lived in his bowl and he immediately started his lessons. I tried to distract him and finally told him “maybe Frankie needs a break from all of his schoolwork and training to absorb what he is learning.” He agreed to give him a break, ate his breakfast, and went outside to play in the backyard.
After cleaning up the dishes and kitchen after breakfast, I looked outside, and my husband was in the yard talking to R and I could see he was in a serious discussion. I opened the door to ask if things were okay. He replied, “yes, but R is insisting on starting his lesson with Frankie again.” This boy was beyond determined to teach this fish to do something, anything!
A little while later the boys returned to the house after a bike ride with their dad and had lunch. R asked, “how can I teach Frankie?” We relented and he was back to the bowl talking and coaxing Frankie to do something. I gave up. I let him sit there talking to Frankie explaining how he was an incredibly special fish and could do anything he wanted to do. He told him “I have faith in you Frankie”, something that made me laugh because I knew it was what I always said to him.
A little while later I hear R saying, “keep trying you almost have it Frankie!!! KEEP TRYING!!!”, and then heard his scream “YEAH YOU DID IT FRANKIE GOOD BOY, I knew you could” and “MOMMY DADDY, COME AND LOOK HE DID IT, HE’S DOING IT!!”
Well, of course, we both wondered what was going on and ran into the kitchen and there was R with the biggest, brightest smile on his face and he said… watch, “Frankie rollover”. He then said, “See, he keeps doing it now he can’t stop he is so happy he is a showoff Mommy.” I looked into the bowl to see Frankie rolling over again and again. I faked my happiness for R being such an accomplished fish trainer.
I called the fish store and they told me he had a “swim bladder” and advised me things to do to try to help Frankie. They advised me most times they do not fare well once they have this disease. Great I thought.
Well, R was telling everyone of “Frankie the Wonder Fish” and what he accomplished. He was so proud of himself and his pet. R also quickly told Frankie, “now that you can roll you can learn to play dead.” I thought to myself, “if you only knew.”
A few days later we came downstairs to start our day, and R yells, “MOM… he’s doing it… he’s playing dead!!!” I look in and sure enough there he was “playing dead” he was so good at it he never stopped! I was mortified. While cooking breakfast and eating breakfast my mind was spinning on how I was going to explain to R, “he isn’t playing kid.” I knew he would be devastated. My heart was breaking. After breakfast, R was next to the bowl watching him like a hawk. I thought to myself after I’m done cleaning up, I’ll sit him down and give him the sad news.
I let R revel in his new accomplishment with Frankie and after a few moments, he said, “he’s still playing dead, let’s flush him!!”
Quirky kids… we should be more like them. They honestly have the art of “letting go and letting happiness in” down to a science.
The moral of this story is – success is a matter of perception. If you think you can train a fish, chances are you can -The one thing I learned from R is. . . “any ‘fin’ is possible” as long as you believe in yourself.
Until then. . .
Keep Sparkling~
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