My Girl!

One of my daughters has been itching to get out on the water for a few weeks.  Over the past year she has landed her 1st rainbow on the fly and started tying a little.  She is just interested and I have not pushed her towards this.

She's really accomplished a lot with her fly fishing for an 8 year old.  When we hit the water the other day she hit the fishing hard for a half our or so and landed one little rainbow.  Not long after she landed the fish, she started getting distracted.

The fishing was a little slow and she started playing with rocks and splashing in the stream.  I started to get a little irritated.  I mean really, doesn't she know this will just disturb the fish?  In that moment I realized I was starting to act like a grumpy old man and not like a dad that should just be enjoying some precious time on the water with his daughter no matter what we were doing.

As Thanksgiving Day was winding down, my stepmother was telling me about how she used to fish with her dad when she was little.  I asked her what she remembered about fishing with her dad?  She told me she just remembered him grumping at her about not doing anything right on the water.  WOW!

This really got me thinking about the time Chelsea and I were fishing the other day.  I remember starting to get short with her because she wasn't taking her fishing very serious.  But, I decided to let it go, and we ended up spending time walking the stream while I held her little hand so she didn't slip.  I hope that's what she remembers and not that I started to grump at her when she was getting tired of fishing.

Kids have a short attention span and really just can't focus on tasks the way we do.  Their brains are not even developed to the point that they can focus the way we do.  I just want to encourage all of you to enjoy the time you get on the water with your kids.  And if they get tired of fishing, then so be it.  Enjoy some time skipping rocks and hanging out with them.  They grow up so fast.

Our ability to help our children mature and develop their relationship with Christ hinges on days just like Chelsea and I had.  The focus on the day should always be strengthening our bonds with our children, not producing perfect drag free drifts.  As we build trust with our children we give them the confidence in us they need that allows them to share tough issues in their lives with us.  That last thing any kid needs is fear that we will blow up at them over something as insignificant as fishing.  And, if they are not comfortable with us with unimportant things like fishing, they are not likely to be comfortable that we won't blow up on them with important issues.

Get out on the water with your kids and enjoy them.  I hope this gives you some food for thought on your next outing with your children.