There's a stocked pond not too far away, stocked with channel catfish, rainbows, and bluegills. Most are small.

While biking on the way to the market today, there were couple of guys that either called in sick (yes, today is beautiful in the low 70s and the river is still to high to play), work the night shift, or whatever. With a stack of things to do, I really envied them.

Also, there were couple of boys that really SHOULD be in school at this hour. Hmmmm...

I almost went back and nearly asked them if their parents knew they were ditching classes to go fishing. It's sort of obvious. When a kid is out in the afternoon, playing around, and it's WEEKS before school ends for the summer----you have to wonder.

Sorry, it's the mom in me. I know some parents don't care if their kid drops out, ditches a few times each month, spends 3 or 4 (or MORE) hours a day on the Internet... But this one does.

Our kids have to earn their fun time on the computer or TV. And it's never before homework, no matter what they promise. They have trade in tokens that appear and disappear with good manners/bad manners, chores, listening (yep, I repeat things twice, they lose a token), and other proper things.

I've been called mean before. I've heard the usual 'But my friends do.' I've also been called the best mom in the world when I told them one day to stop cleaning their rooms, we're driving down to their favorite fishing hole. It was their reward for one getting three A's in a row in Math, and the other one is on a roll for consecutive 100% on his spelling tests. (Eight weeks and counting!)

Gotta keep 'em off balance!

The Mom