Fishing

Here is the view of "The Fort" from my bedroom window. You can see Justin at the edge of the water patiently casting his line.

...Jasmine, Annalise, and Mom invade his quiet little world...
and he graciously welcomes us.

Having grown up in California with somewhat urban parents, Justin hasn't been presented with the opportunity to do a whole lot of fishing in his lifetime. To be clear, here's what I think about the sport: "Worms? Bugs? Slimy Flopping Fish? Really?" However; since living here, we've noticed that it seems to be something he really enjoys. For Christmas this year, he asked Santa Claus for one thing: The Rocket Fishing Rod (as seen on the infomercial promising that simply holding the thing would attract a million fish and immediately elevate you to world's most accomplished "fisherkid" status). Santa Claus delivered on his promise and the Rocket Fishing Rod was waiting under the Christmas Tree when he woke up Christmas morning. Justin first tested the thing with John over the back porch and was a bit dismayed when it broke upon it's first launch. Poor Kid! I remember when he gave me the sad little face and said, "The commercial kind of lied...but that's OK...I think it will work at least a little bit."

Over the past couple of weeks, Justin has been spending a lot of time with his friend Mark down at "The Fort" by our house. The Fort now has two completed rooms, a bike rack, a fire circle, and a lake out back for fishing. They often bring lawn chairs down there for furniture and when the mood strikes them Jasmine is allowed to tag along too. As they plan for dinner, Justin patiently stands at the water's edge waiting for the fish to jump onto his magical pole and I am summoned over the walkie-talkie from time to time to come down and "fix this dumb thing" when it gets tangled. The "dumb thing" seems to be working these days and he has recently learned how to untangle the smaller snags in the line on his own. Given these improvements, I now enjoy fishing with him because the sun is shining, the line rarely gets tangled to a point where my assistance is needed, and I am quite confident that there is not a single fish within a 5 mile radius of his fishing line that I would ever have to deal with should it meet an untimely death at the hands of the pretend hook hidden under the SpongeBob bobber.

I admit it - I hate "The Fort" because it has bugs and I hate fishing because it means mud. Justin? He sees a different world than I do and I love watching him explore it. My son is undeniably the best kid under the sun. He's so sweet and generous and his imagination knows no bounds. He's a loving child with a heart of gold and I treasure the time I have with him. This activity makes me smile because he's trying something neither John nor I have ever tried to teach him. More importantly, he's passionate about it and he's embracing it! I pray that he catches a fish and that I have to deal with the mess because it will make him smile that magical smile of accomplishment that melts my heart and helps me remember why being his Mom is the greatest gift that was ever given to me.