This afternoon, the phone rang. As is the case 80% of the time when the phone rings it was for The Princess. It was her BFF, L, calling to tell The Princess that her fish-sitting services would no longer be required this weekend. It seems that today, L’s fish Jeffrey went to that giant fishbowl in the sky.

The Princess talked to her for a minute, then came into the kitchen (where completely unaware of the death at hand, I had been jamming to my iPod and maybe, kinda sorta dancing a little bit). She put the mouthpiece to the phone on her shoulder and said, “Uh, mom? L’s fish died. She’s all crying… So, I told her to take a deep breath, to think of something happy and that would wipe some of the bad thoughts away.” She then resumed talking to L, and currently they are hanging in The Princess’s bedroom (where The Princess’s two fish continue to thrive…somehow).

I don’t always feel like I do everything right. As a parent, there’s a large margin for error, and so many ways and methods of completely screwing things up. But for every tantrum my kid has thrown and for every time she’s rolled her eyes at me, at least I know that when the chips are down, she’s a good friend to her friends and that must mean I’m doing something right.