Watched my little girl grow up a bit yesterday while, of all things, fishing. First, after I had catered to her for about a half hour with putting worms on hooks and casting, she said, "Dad I wanna cast." Not an easy task with an open face reel for an amateur Jr. fisherwoman. I gave her a quick lesson, she nailed it. Then without showing her, and her just watching me, she started to attempt setting the hook like a pro whenever she got a nibble, I was amazed! I praised her, she smiled and reeled in her first catch. At this point I still had to unhook the fish. We had fished together before, but I noticed this was the first time that She was really getting into it and enjoying herself, and also taking the initiative to learn and be better at it. So I decided it was time for Dad to back off a little bit and let her go it alone. I started working my way to the other side of the pond, wondering how she would handle landing a fish without me to tend to her girly dislike of touching slimy flip floppy things. I watched as she sent cast after cast out there, then she landed one. Much to my surprise she did not yell for me to come running, nor did she even look to me for help, I watched intently, smiling as she pulled her catch to shore. As she knelt down, curiously examining her first solo catch, she casually and slowly tucked her blonde hair behind her left ear. Next with her left hand, index finger extended as far as possible, as if to put distance between her and the slick fish, she pinned it to the ground, still with one finger. Then I could tell she was gingerly removing the hook. I swear I could see her crystal blue eyes from clear across the pond. Then in a flash she picked up her catch, tossed it back in WORMED HER OWN HOOK! and was into another cast before I could say, "Thank you God" Erickson calls this the "Initiative Vs. Guilt" stage of early childhood development, you know, wanting to try things on their own. If I hovered over her telling her what to do or informing her of what she was doing wrong then I would be pushing her toward the guilt side of that number line. Aint happening! Instead I watched her grow from across a small pond, on a beautiful fall afternoon. I praised her all the way home and she smiled and busted my ass that she caught 12 fish and I only 6. Yes, she is a horrendous ball buster like her Dad. All this and so much more from a simple day of fishing with Avery..."Thank you God"
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 03:53:31 +0000
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