Fishing Failure

Yesterday was our township's annual "Fishing Derby." It used to be geared only to children, but this year it was open to everyone. We have always brought Jacob to the freshly-stocked pond in our nearby park for the event, and this year was no exception. As usual, Jacob expertly cast his line into the water and continually came up empty. We watched wistfully as the people to our right, and then the people to our left, pulled fish after fish out of the pond. We set our bobber exactly like the others did, and used the same sized hook and the same type of night crawler. After two hours, Jacob became frustrated, and looked longingly towards the inflatable bouncer that was situated behind us. He decided that he had no desire to fish anymore, and instead wanted to jump in the moonwalk.

When Jacob was done bouncing, we began to pack up our fishing gear - which incidentally included all the usual equipment, plus an empty plant pot that Jacob had grabbed from the garage to hold his catches. He was insistent that he needed that particular container. I felt pretty silly with my old orange planter sitting next to our tackle box, because, really, we do have buckets at our house. But, I felt a little less humiliated when I saw a girl walk by carrying her fish in a large baggie. I thought about asking one of the lucky anglers around us if Jacob could hold their fish while I took a photo, but by this time Jacob was thoroughly disgusted with fishing and just wanted to leave. I bet when next year's derby rolls around, though, he will be ready to fish again.