This weekend, we had some relatives come into town for the 4th of July.  We decided to take the older kids to the river to do some catfishing.

      We had both of the boats with us, my new 14′ aluminum boat and my oldest son’s 12′ aluminum boat.  My boy Mikey  wanted to pilot his boat on the river by himself with the other two older boys.  His boat has a 7 HP outboard motor on it and doesn’t go real fast, so the other dad with me said it was ok.  We put the three boys in the boat and the other three of us loaded up into our boat.  I let them take the lead out in the river with me close behind.  Then I moved up beside them to ride next to them until we got to our fishing spot.

     When we arrived at our fishing hole, Mikey picked his own spot to them to fish.  He also tied his own poles for himself and the other two boys, baited the hooks, and caught their own fish, and took

care of their own stuff.  As a dad, I was proud to see him take on some responsibility and have fun doing it.  It was also hard to let go a little bit.  When the kids start growing up, you want them to become strong adults, but you also want to keep them kids as long as you can.  He did a fine job manning his own boat.  It was like he was a mini charter captain for the boys.  They did catch some nice catfish also.    I was one proud dad! 

     Just don’t grow up too fast son!

And before anyone asks, yes they did have life jackets on while moving the boat.  We let them take them off in the boat when anchored.