Your children are not a Nuisance

Today my husband and I went to the lake and as we were docking our boat to head home I noticed a man fishing off the dock with his little girl, Madison. I'm sure you are wondering how I knew her name. He said, or should I say yelled, her name enough times that everyone within ear shot knew her name. She looked to be around 4 years old, a very inquisitive age, and full of energy. The thing that got me was the fact that all he did was yell at her saying "Madison get over here and sit in your chair" "Madison, we're here to fish", " Madison stop that", "Madison do you want to go home" "Madison knock it off", "Madison be quiet", I'm pretty sure I heard her name at least 20 times and not once was it in any loving fatherly way. It was purely an annoyed guy who couldn't focus on fishing and catching the next 'big one' because his little girl was with him.

It became pretty apparent that although the dad brought Madison to the lake, he didn't want her at the lake. I am thinkin' it wasn't all his idea to take little Madison with him. If I had to guess I would guess that his wife must have coerced him into it. Obviously pure speculation on my part but I sure felt he clearly didn't want Madison interfering with his fishing excursion.

OK seriously, if you are going to take a child out to do YOUR HOBBY you should expect them to want some attention. Perhaps if the dad had paid some attention to Madison, like showed her how to use her little fishing pole and talked about how fun it is to catch fish, about how they swim and what they eat he wouldn't have had to yell "Madison" 20 million times. I'm pretty sure she would have been totally engaged and loving the fact that she was out spending the day with her dad at the lake. Instead I fear she may have felt more like her dad didn't really want her there and that he thought she was a nuisance. I'm positive Madison would have loved to have her daddy 'want' her to be there spending time with him.
Kids are very perceptive. You may not say out loud that you don't want your child bothering you but trust me, it comes through loud and clear. Take time to remember that little kids have feelings just like you do. Spend time with your kids. They're not a nuisance, they're gifts and you have been entrusted with taking care of them and showing them how much they are loved. Engage them in the things that you are doing. Have fun teaching them and watching them grow up. They grow up quickly!

You will see a lot about kids on this blog. As I've gotten older I have become much wiser than when I was a young mother of 4 children. I know I did what that father did today with Madison with my own children. I am hoping that this post will inspire you to take a look and see if you are letting your kids know how special they are and that they are loved and that you DO want them around you.