Disclaimer: I do not own any of these movies, Disney does.


Parenting 101-Marlin

Being a single parent is hard. Especially when your son is a hyperactive little tyke with a knack for finding trouble. Add to that an amnesiac surgeon fish and a group of laidback sea turtles and you've got an equation for mischief and mayhem.

But I love them all anyways.

Of course, I have my moments of frustration and angst. What parent doesn't? And every time Nemo's birthday rolls around I do get those brief bursts of melancholy. I miss Coral so much. Whenever Nemo's having a rough day, or is dealing with this problem or that situation, I miss her more than ever. She would know what do to, me I'm just like (pardon the pun) a fish out of water.

However, I do have my moments of greatness.

I kept Nemo in school, despite my initial terror at him being away from home and me. But I knew he could handle it. Squirt is enrolled at school too, so Crush and I chat from time to time. He's been giving me tips about being a single dad, and that's really helped me cope. Dory's become like a big sister to Nemo, and watches him whenever I'm busy or just need to be alone. Sometimes Nemo winds up watching Dory, but it's really nice seeing them together. Dory never found out where her family went, and Nemo's never had anybody but me, so I'm glad the two of them found each other and enjoy each other's company.

The sharks still hang around. Dory still belongs to their support group (which never made sense to me, but that's Dory) and they tend to come home with her from time to time, giving everyone on the reef, including me, a huge fright. I know that they won't hurt anyone though, so I get a laugh whenever they make Bob ink.

Nemo's a good kid. He's made quite a few friends since his misadventure, all of them wanting to hear how he'd been kidnapped by humans and how he escaped. He'd become quite popular, and many of his friends have stuck with him. Especially Squirt. I can barely keep those two boys apart, not that I want to. Squirt is Nemo's first real friend, besides Dory, and I never want to take that away from him.

Over all, I think I've become a decent parent. Nemo's happy, and that's all that matters in the long run. Dory's happy too, and as I've discovered over the course of my adventures, that that's almost as important. I'm not perfect, will never claim to be, but I think I'm doing a respectable job so far, don't you think?