kids and boats very long sorry

[sailbadthesinner]

Mrs S and i decide on a new venue to stand and have one of our regular 'debates'
I take her to local big reservoir sailing club to meet a bloke who may have some crewing for me in the winter series of local dinghy club.
As i stand in centre of my village and there is not much wind on my face and it is chilly, maybe noone will be there? eventually we decide to go there cos it aint far away and if he's not there some other members might be.

Arrive at club. there are some people in the clubhouse and they look pretty dim ' i am on the powerboat course are you here for that?' says dim looking chap
but to be fair the guy is not as dim as me, who has come out without the paper on which i had written the name of whom i was looking for. Anyway after much asking about and a bit of shrugging, a very nice bloke i see on the pontoon from the boat storage area comes up and tells me chap i am looking for is out on the water crewing as last minute stand in for a woman with a gp 14 . race will finish in about half an hour. i can help myself to free tea back at the club house and wait there no worries.

so we go down to shore to watch the action. it is blowing really well if not a bit patchy as soime parts of course are more sheltered than others. swmbo complains she is cold and her stilletoe boots are sinking in the sand. so i give her my coat to wear on top of hers and offfer ( not very convincingly) to carry her to a grassy bank.

the boats, which are solos lasers and gp14 s, are flying and i am hopping up and down in excitement.
'Stop giggling your change in your pocket like an excited child' she offers.
'Look you'll be able to come and watch each week' and there is free tea in the clubhouse.' i retort
'what? You think i am going to come down here and freeze whilst you go out and play boats . just so you can take your scouts sailing and spend yet more time away from me?'
'Bbbut its not like that. i need to do this to get better. so i can teach our kids'
'What if its a girl and she doesn't want to go sailing in winter with her dad but wants to go buying prety dresses with her mum?'
Whhaaat ?!!!! what do you mean not like sailing?'

so there you have it
it dawned on me that my passion may not be my childrens. ( i have resigned myself to kids now. mrs s's oestrogen could whip up a storm i am sure. she leaves bodies in her wake rushing up to prams and toddlers)
i now really understand how my friend a sunderland fan is terrified his boy may become a newcastle fan.
all thoughts of me teaching are on hold in case i come accross too eager. how is the best way to get your kids interested without being overbearing?
my old man took me sailing on yachts from 5 and at about 9 booked me and a mate on a sailing course and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to want to take to the water.
how do i ensure a daughter will want to spend november in a reservoir rather than retail therapy?????

footnote
i did eventually meet said bloke and his female skipper. they were both great so thanks to martin and cath. cath is a feisty scouse sounding woman who told a fellow competitor in no uncertain terms her views on one of his maneouvres round a mark. bloke tried to argue with her but she cut him at the knees, so's to speak
i am going to hanging around next week kit in hand ( thanks to parahandy for that)
with a hopeful look and cold feet.
last night I offered to make swmbo some sandwiches in case she got peckish watching the race
she muttered darkly something about selfridges and harvey nicks. so i think i will be on my own.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>if guinness is good for you. i must be very very good</font color=red>

 

[kilkerr1]

Hi Mr S.

I don't really see that encouraging a girly should be any different to encouraging a boy to go sailing: either may love or hate the idea for various reasons. There is no 'ensuring' what children want (unfortunately). All you can do is demonstrate your love of sailing, take the little blighters out when you can and take it from there. I do understand you wanting your loved ones to adore the things you do; I get terribly disappointed when my other half doesn't jump up and down with delight at some of the stuff I'm passionate about, but I guess that's all part of life's rich bedspread type fing. But there's nought that can be done if one's little girl really, really wants to be a fighter pilot rather than a sailor...or if one's little boy decides he needs weekly retail therapy at Harvey Nicks... /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

As an aside, can you imagine what the world would be like if you could 'ensure' that your kids wanted exactly what you wanted...? Blimey...


<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://kilkerr.members.easyspace.com/santateresa_pics.htm>Santa Teresa and other t'ings</A>

 

[BlueSkyNick]

plan A - don't have kids.

plan B - a contingency if plan A fails. Take them sailing as soon as possible, so that it becomes part of their normal lifestyle before they realise what's going on. Just the same as going to school, having presents for christmas, rain on holidays, etc etc.

Our own experience is that it is difficult to get them into it at a later date, once they have developed their own interests.

All IMHO of course



<hr width=100% size=1>The problem is that God gave men a brain and a penis but only enough blood to use one at a time.

 

[jimi]

mmm. as one who's singularly failed to ignite enthusiasm isn 2 of the 3 girls I feel ill qualified to offer any advice .. but I will! You need to get Mrs S on side and keep her there. I'm sure a joint enthusiasm by both parents is more infectious!!!

<hr width=100% size=1>O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!

 

[qsiv]

Unfortunately my two sprogs arent totally convinced about sailing, there are just no guarantees. I havent pushed it in the hope that they will come to enjoy it more later on. They've both spent plenty of time on a variety of boats, both power and sail, and remain convinced that they would prefer power becaus it makes a better platform for doing SFA ...

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[tcm]

Oh dear, the parents of today(and tomorrow)

Fact is, there is no need for the kids to *like* to do a particular activity. It's irrelevant.

Many parents forget this. They become very worried when the kids say that they "don't want to go to bed", or do any homework, as though satisfying their wishes is a consideration. But it isn't. Their wishes are oftimes as irrelevant as their opinions.

So, when kids say "but i don't WANT to go to bed" or "but I don't want to go sailing" you can say "that's alright sweetheart, you don't have to want to" and then proceed.

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[robp]

Nick's right in that, if they're born to it, there's every chance that they'll take to it. Girls or boys. THE MOST important thing is, that it's fun from the start and all through. (All smiles). If it's dinghy's get them racing and enjoying their club. If it's yachts - well same really but go to fun places and with (or to meet) friends.

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[Sybarite]

For what it's worth.

Kids don't like spending long periods couped up in a boat, not having anything to do and possibly getting sick at the same time. You have to make them participate at each stage. The best thing though is to go to some nice beach on a hot summer day and perhaps bring a little sailing dinghy in tow. Then put them in the dinghy - in sheltered waters - and tell them they are responsible for it and they can sail it without any intervention from you. They will figure it out for themselves and have the time of their life doing it as long as the parents keep a benign eye well in the background. It also work with a rowing dinghy but this is less fun.

Once they are hooked Bobs your uncle.

John

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[peterb]

Contrarywise

How to make kids want to sail? Easy! Just forbid them to go anywhere near a sailing boat.

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[Ohdrat]

Re: how do i ensure a daughter will want to .....

spend november in a reservoir rather than retail therapy

same as you would a son.. if it's any comfort nothing stopped me even when my mitts froze to the sheets.. no kidding..

Only thing I would say is get a boat that is un capsizable and unsinkable and the prospective daughter go out by herself! It only took me a month of Sundays to figure out why lee shores with anglers on them should be avoided and how to avoid them!

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[BarryH]

Hmm does this mean that the kids are pending or your on a promise!!!

I've got two girlies, and a wife. All I need is a female dog and I'll only have one quiet day a month in a few years. Seriously tho. Just let them play around a small boat/dinghy when they're young. We used to use the inflatable in the garden as a play pen. I called it the prison.
They get used to it in a very short space of time and equate it with having a bit of fun. Then stick it in the water on a long'ish rope tethered to something so it won't float away. I've now got two girls that will take me up to the pub in the dinghy with an outboard on the back and bring me back without getting me wet!
The eldest who's 6 is capable of helming our little 21 footer across Poole harbour and out to studland, with me watching over her.

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[banana]

don\'t encourage, tell them they must

Kids get too much choice. Tell them they are going sailing and they can like it or else. It's what I do and the dark rumblings I vaguely hear, I ignore. I know one day they will thank me.

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[beancounter]

A few thoughts from experiences with my own sprogs;

a) don't make gender assumptions - in our case. son = landlubber. daughter = windsurfing, trapeze-hanging gung-ho type.

b) given your experience, & if you've been working with the scouts, you should be ok at "coaching" sprogs - the Memsahib & I didn't start sailing until after the arrival of our two, and our lack of confidence in the early days was a factor in our naturally cautious son not taking to boats.

c) I'm not sure you can force them (as other posts have suggested) - son still looks back in horror at the oppie training we "strongarmed" him through.

d) be patient - although our lad will run a mile from a dinghy, he thoroughly enjoyed our couple of flotillas - 'cos we left him in charge of GPS, VHF and any other vaguely gadgety thingies.

cheers

John

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