Last Saturday we had a graduation party for our oldest son. It took weeks of planning, days of cooking, and many hours of preparation. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we had between 25-35 people in our yard, including young(er) children.
My fishtank is in our dining room, and as hard as I tried to keep an eye on the little ones outside, every once in a while one snuck past me - straight to the fishtank. Before long I heard one of my son screaming: "MOM, the dining room is under water, your fish tank is leaking!"
I stormed inside, followed by a pack of "gawkers", only to find my fish cabinet wide open, and the skimmer outlet was pushed all the way down and busy pumping water into the stand instead of into the sump, which was overflowing onto the floor at that point. (I have a Octopus skimmer without the modification, if anyone is wondering.) Talk about me nearly having a heart attack. I chased everybody out, except my husband and kids, who grabbed every single towel we own, drying the floor, the cabinet, etc. We went through 2 entire rolls of paper towels, too. Luckily I had enough saltwater made to replenish the sump. Nearly 5 gallons of salt water was lost! I was SO mad.
After everything was cleaned up, the towles shuffed into the dryer, I went back outside and was immediately approached by my niece. Her 4-year old was the culprit. After that confession I nearly had another heart attack, because her son was literally drenched in suntan lotion from head to toe, and I was imagining the worst. I envisioned the little guy's lotion-filled hands playing in my sump water.
I survived the ordeal, as did my corals, inverts, and fish, but the party ended with "Dennis the Menace" pulling another stunt. As they were saying good-bye, he approached my old dog, who was sitting in front of me, only to pour an entire bag of Capris Sun on top of his back! I looked at my niece, who had witnessed the event, and since I was afraid I was going to lose my cool, I just shook my head, took my dog in, and washed him off (mumbling not so pretty stuff in the process).
I tell you, I've never been happier to see someone leave than that day. I love my niece and her family dearly, but each and every time they are here, something ends up being broken. If only I had the nerve to gently ask her to please watch her children herself, and not to leave that up to other people (ME)
My son's friends told me that they were horrified of me when they saw my face with the tank dilemma. Alex kept telling me to calm down and take deep breaths, lol. Funny thing is that I don't remember saying anything to anyone while trying to clean up all that water, and I'm afraid to ask if and what I was mumbling.
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Wendy
My fishtank is in our dining room, and as hard as I tried to keep an eye on the little ones outside, every once in a while one snuck past me - straight to the fishtank. Before long I heard one of my son screaming: "MOM, the dining room is under water, your fish tank is leaking!"
I stormed inside, followed by a pack of "gawkers", only to find my fish cabinet wide open, and the skimmer outlet was pushed all the way down and busy pumping water into the stand instead of into the sump, which was overflowing onto the floor at that point. (I have a Octopus skimmer without the modification, if anyone is wondering.) Talk about me nearly having a heart attack. I chased everybody out, except my husband and kids, who grabbed every single towel we own, drying the floor, the cabinet, etc. We went through 2 entire rolls of paper towels, too. Luckily I had enough saltwater made to replenish the sump. Nearly 5 gallons of salt water was lost! I was SO mad.
After everything was cleaned up, the towles shuffed into the dryer, I went back outside and was immediately approached by my niece. Her 4-year old was the culprit. After that confession I nearly had another heart attack, because her son was literally drenched in suntan lotion from head to toe, and I was imagining the worst. I envisioned the little guy's lotion-filled hands playing in my sump water.
I survived the ordeal, as did my corals, inverts, and fish, but the party ended with "Dennis the Menace" pulling another stunt. As they were saying good-bye, he approached my old dog, who was sitting in front of me, only to pour an entire bag of Capris Sun on top of his back! I looked at my niece, who had witnessed the event, and since I was afraid I was going to lose my cool, I just shook my head, took my dog in, and washed him off (mumbling not so pretty stuff in the process).
I tell you, I've never been happier to see someone leave than that day. I love my niece and her family dearly, but each and every time they are here, something ends up being broken. If only I had the nerve to gently ask her to please watch her children herself, and not to leave that up to other people (ME)
My son's friends told me that they were horrified of me when they saw my face with the tank dilemma. Alex kept telling me to calm down and take deep breaths, lol. Funny thing is that I don't remember saying anything to anyone while trying to clean up all that water, and I'm afraid to ask if and what I was mumbling.
---
Wendy
