We've been taking care of the class pet all summer, a tiger salamander. No problems, very low maintenance. Last night my 11 year old was changing the water in the aquarium, and she put the salamander in the sink, because he has to be wet at all times. She left the water in the sink running and when she came back a minute later, the water was hot-- she had accidentally scalded the poor thing. He seemed to recover ok, we got him in the right temperature water right away, and he seemed to be his old self, but when I woke up this morning he was dead. On top of that he's a rare tiger salamander and can't be replaced because he's indigenous around here.
I feel like total crap. I left a voice mail with the teacher this morning and DREAD having to tell her. I'd like to eat a quart of ice cream to numb out these feelings. I guess I can only hope that my two younger kids don't have her for a teacher, or that she wasn't too attached to the salamander.