Integrating Kids and Life: Fishing and other Maneuvers

As six year-old No. Two and I lay in our tent dozing off I heard gunfire in the distance.  At first it was just a shot or two.  I convinced myself that it it in fact wasn’t gunfire; clearly it was just the state park’s caretaker plopping things into the bed of a pickup truck.  Afew more bangs burst out from a little further up the vallery from where our tent perched overlooking the Pecos River.  I wondered what goofballs were out shooting at dusk, but frankly since we were in New Mexico, it wasn’t really that uncommon of a thing.  I closed my eyes again only to hear bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang a few moments later.  Not many people in NM have automatic weapons, so that was a bit odd.  Still, the sounds were coming from around the bend of the valley so I wasn’t too concerned.  I watched the moon of our tent’s mesh roof trying to slide back into sleep.

Then—Two and I both heard it this time—an ominous roar rolled in from the opposite direction down the valley.  The ground beneath us began to vibrate just a bit.  Finally, it occurred to me what was going on, I didn’t want him to miss it so I hollered at Two,  “Get up!  Watch!”

“What!?” Two popped up in his mummy bag.

“Look up, and watch!” I yelled over the now booming noise.

Suddenly, there it was.  The nose of an A10 zoomed toward us.  As the plane screamed by, not more than 50 feet overhead—now literally shaking the ground beneath our sleeping bags—we could see it’s silhouette studded with a few dim red flying lights, trailed by dull red glow of its jet engines’ tail pipes.  A moment later, it was gone; headed up the valley towards the earlier gunfire.  We’d just had a front and center seat for the New Mexico National Guard's night-fighting maneuver drills.  Both of us totally thrilled with the impromptu flyover, we chattered on about it for a bit before finally cuddling back in to our bags, slowly drifting off to sleep under the almost full moon.

The whole experience was grand!  Earlier in the day Two even caught a rainbow trout out of the Pecos.  And, I wouldn’t have been able to experience any of it, at least not nearly as fully, if I hadn’t thought to bring Two along with me on the trip.  I might not have even been in that part of the state if Two and I hadn’t taken the time to visit a family friend who made blankets for Two and each of his siblings when they were born.  I probably wouldn’t have gone fishing, and even if I’d seen the plane, who would I have shared it with?

I’m incredibly lucky to have a job that allows me to work remotely as long as I have an internet connection, so lots of the situations the kids and I have found ourselves in have wound up like this most recent trip.  But, even when the kids and I hangout around town, the time I take to figure out how to involve the gang is always worth it.

Back when I did laboratory work, I’d pick the kids up out of daycare on my way to the pipe supply store.  The first time we went, I thought it would be just something interesting for them to see, something new.  When we got there though, it turned out they had free popcorn and bar stools.  Three year-old No. One and (then) 1 year-old No. Two—Three hadn’t arrived yet--- sat around happily munching popcorn while I took care of the lab’s piping business.  Again, to perhaps overuse a phrase, it was grand!

I see a lot of questions on parenting forums about what a kid of this or that age will enjoy doing.  My answer is always: they’ll enjoy doing everything you do.  What I rarely think to add though is that everytime I’m able to take the kids, there’s a huge perk in it for me too: I have way more fun!