Gone Fishing

I've written before about how similar Abby and I are. The fact that we are so much alike helps when it comes to having fun, but it also causes us to butt our stubborn heads...quite a lot actually. She doesn’t give Jason half as much trouble as she does me when it comes to things like getting ready and following directions. That’s much of what makes the mornings run so smoothly - mom gets factored out of the equation pretty early, and those two can enjoy each other’s company.

Tonight was another example of how well they get along. After dinner I was enjoying a nice cup of hot tea, when Abby decided she needed a black dress. Abby doesn’t have a black dress, but she would not listen to reason - or her mother. So, as she called from the stairs, imploring me to get her a black dress, I refused to move, telling her there was no such dress. I’d had a good, but tiring, day at school and I wasn’t about to go searching for a dress that didn’t exist, so I sipped my tea and figured that at some point she’d give up - she did.

A bit later I heard her upstairs with Jason, and although I couldn’t make out what was being said, I could hear quite a bit of loud yelling. This is not at all typical, so I thought I should just get up and investigate. As I got upstairs I saw that things were not as dire as I had predicted. Yes, they were both yelling, but that’s because they were both fishing.

I had to laugh when I spotted them next to each other in our bed playing a fishing video game. Abby held the fishing rod controller, and Jason had the standard controller. I watched as they (loudly) encouraged each other to cast their lines, and then laughed and shouted when a fish was caught. Abby saw me and said, “Look, Mama! I’m fishing with Dada!” She was thrilled, and they were both having a blast.

So I smiled, and went downstairs to finish my tea, leaving them to have their fun.

Soon enough it was time to call it quits because the “fisherwoman” needed to get to bed. She put up a bit of resistance, until I suggested that she take her fish with her. She slid off the bed and then said, “Oh, wait a minute!” and turned around to grab her “bucket” of fish to bring upstairs. She held that pretend bucket in her little fist as we started to go, and then backtracked to give them to Bruiser - apparently he looked hungry for some of her fresh catch.

I suspect there will be more fishing adventures for those two to come.

Even though this is several years old, it remains one of my favorites!