Goldfish Swine Flu

Why do I let the kids sucker me into having pets? We've had the fish for a year and a half. On Sunday they started dropping like flies. First Drew noticed one "laying" in the fake seaweed. It was kind of fuzzy looking, kind of like a rotting orange. Then another one died the same horrible death. So I figured the last remaining goldfish and small minnow would surely follow the next morning. Sure enough the big goldfish didn't look so good the next morning. It was hovering near the bottom of the tank and kind of swaying back and forth helplessly. Minnow was darting around. So I called Rebecca to ask what she would do. She said to just flush it while the kids were at school, even though it was still alive. And she said to flush the minnow and tell the kids that it was like Nemo and they would make it to the ocean through the sewer pipes. I don't know if my kids are that gullible. And also, that didn't happen in Nemo, that happened in Flushed Away but it wasn't a fish it was a rat (I think). I couldn't do it! So I went to the gym knowing that when I got home it would have died. Nope. As soon as I went to the fish tank after the gym it swam back and forth desperately as if saying "clean my water lady! I'm breathing my own poop!" When the kids got home I said if they wanted to keep the fish they had to help me clean the tank. Of course Drew jumped right in and we cleaned it out and changed the filter and saved their lives. Just when I was really looking forward to having no fish tank responsibility. I did feel pretty good about the rescue though.