you let your 9 year old daughter play hooky to go fishing with you. we have not had a weekend coincide together where we could both go fishing all spring so while on vaca this week today i was going fishing she wanted to go so i let her and we had a blast. i am sure she learned more today on the water than she would have in the classroom. 
wont be an all the time occurence but on rare occasion, what the hey. 
Setting aside quality time with your daughter makes you a GREAT parent. 
Parent of the year nomination in my book 
There are alot of parents that should do the like on occasion. Big question is: How was the fishing?
no way, me and my dad play hookey all the time to go fishing! any kid in the whole wolrd whould miss school to go fishing. way to be the best parent in the world
I honestly believe that if more parents took this kind of interest in their kids, there would be fewer problems in the world today. Isn’t it terrible that we as a parents have to think in this day and age if what you did is wrong, isn’t it…
Two thumbs up for you.
I did it many times in the past with my youngest son Nate. And he also signed my name on many ”need to be dismissed from school slips” to go fishing without me knowing it. I use to hear from my friends how my tow vehicle was always seen down at Colvil Park at Red Wing during the day. Only problem was it wasn’t me who drove the boat to pool 4 to go fishing. 
Its a good reason [only reason in my book 
] for a child to miss a day of school. Father/daughter or father/son bonding time on the water is special. They will always remember those days.
Thanks, Bill
Great job!
Hmmmmm. Note to self….”Have Mom call into my work, and say her boy isn’t coming into work today.” 
My daughter isn’t into fishing… but she is into horses. We took her out of school 2 weekends ago to take her to the horse expo at the state fairgrounds. She had about 300.00 saved up from christmas and birthdays… I think she ended up spending about 600.00 (I think either the wife wasn’t very good with math, or was feeling generous that day)! A day off is good for kids every now and then… WITH proper guidance.
I took a day off of work and took my kids out of day care early and went to the sportsman show this year. i think that I had more fun with them than they did with me. I got to watch them bounce around in boats and try to re-arrange the bfishing booth. anyway, great idea, I know i will be doing that with both of my boys when they are in school. do you think that it would be too obvious if I showed up at school with the boat already hooked up to the truck?
shane
I used to do this with my girls too…
Great way to create memories 
As an elementary school principal I fully support parents and kids taking time to establish/strengthen a positive relationship. I’ve got the kids at school for 7 hours, parents have them for 17 so easy to see who is most influential. That relationship with a parent will carry a kid further than any one day of school.
I remember my mom letting me skip school a couple days each spring while I was in high school. She’d set up on the beach with a book and a lawn chair, and I’d be fishing. As long as I kept my grades up to expectations, I’d get to miss a day here and there.
CR
I think the success my boys have realized in their studies can be partially attributed to the “face time” their mom and I have with them.
I agree with everyone else. My son misses a couple days a year to fish or hunt. Our understanding is this is an earned outing. Those days he gets up feeling less than 100 per cent when it would be easy to just stay home he drags his butt to school because he knows there are only so many days he can miss and he doesn’t want to waste one. We had one of his teachers in elementary school voice pretty much what you hear here. Quality time with the parent is valuable to the child.
Our method is I call the school and tell them the boy has an eye problem and won’t be at school, as I hang up I say “he can’t see being in school when the walleye are biting!”. Life is too short and you are making lifetime memories by doing something special for your daughter.
Nope,
Absolutely not, my grandpa always took me out of school when I was little, when my mom and dad complained he just told them I was getting a better education being outside and listening to his friends. He was a very wise man 
My father on occasion would pull us from school to fish,deer hunt etc. Those days you simply don’t forget. Now I do the same with my boys. The smiles are worth it!
Go for it! I’m pulling my son (Junior in HS) from school next Tuesday for a Mille Lacs outing as a thank you for his hard work in school (“A” honor roll).
Quality time with your kid is a VERY excusable absence.
I think there is a huger diffence to taking your kids fishing as a reward, and pulling them from school if they are not doing well. A education is very important, but if the child is respectful, and doing well, I fully support it.
I remember in HS when my Dad called to get me out of school for deer hunting and they said that was not an acceptable excuse. He said “It is a valid excuse for me, and you don’t have anything to say about it” From that year on, as long as schoolwork was done, and I was doing well, deer season was time off school
I really look forward to the day when I can take me son fishing with me
No don’t do it. Keep them in school and make them get smart. If you take them fishing or hunting they will be buying new boats and guns and all kinds of equipment and pretty soon they will start hanging out on internet outdoor forums and meet all kinds of unsavory characters. The downward spiral is just too much.
I took my kids out of school last fall to do some hunting. I was the best hunt of my life. I plan on doing it again next fall too. I was just way to cool to have out in the field with me. We fish all summer long but pulling them out may not be a bad thing for a day.
They go on field trips to learn and have fun. You take them fishin to learn and you both have fun. Being in nature teaches things that a book can not. Way to go.
I see nothing wrong with taking them out of school every once and awhile. The time spent together is priceless. Time is precious as most people work too much and if the kids are in sports 
, it seems that there is not enough time in a day to spend quality time with family.
So Den I think you did a great thing 
If my dad wouldn’t have let me play hooky from school at the age of 14, I would have never shot a HUGE buck right in front of his eyes.
That was 23 years ago and we STILL talk about it today. I’ve shot bigger, but that buck is special!
I can’t wait to do the same with my kids when they get older!
You did right in my book!!!!!
The really important lessons of life are learned outside of a classroom. It may be in a boat, a blind, a tree stand, a wrestling mat or a baseball diamond. My sons and daughter will remember these lessons for a lifetime.
Your daughter needs the one on one time with you and you need it with her. Take it from someone who’s been there, you’ll get more from it than she will. And she’ll get a ton of memories!
I made the mistake of missing a big wrestling tournament with my son because I thought I had too much to do at work. He ended up placing 4th in the Nation and was an All-American. I regret not seeing that moment to this day and will regret it forever.
You’ll never be wrong spending time with your kids.
We never skipped school our senior year to fish in the spring. Don’t let school get in the way of a good education. Especially if you have already been accepted to the next school. It is a pretty good lesson to teach your kid where they can catch a meal of crappies each year on a given weekend.
I call them field trips, i took my boy out of school all the time when rabbit hunting season was here. We’ed kill the rabbits on saturday and sunday and we’ed take off and go hunting monday too. The school would call asking about dan and my wife lied like a rug and said thier was something wrong with him but said if he was feeling much better, which he wouldn’t, that he’ed be in school in the morning. We used to set up at night and load shells and he couldn’t wait to get behind the dog and go for rabbits the next morning. Naaa its not a good idea for field trips in my book lol! I wish more parents would take thier kids fishing and hunting more often, its fun playing hookie with your kids,,,especially for a good reason, especially when they can’t read it in a book.,,,,,,,,,,
I think this is part of making time with your kids special, I know my daughter will be missing a few days of school to fish with me when she’s old enough.
I once had a teacher chew me out, because I took off a school day to go skiing for the first time with my dad, I always rememebr the day, I’ll always remember how that teacher made me feel the next day, even back then I knew I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. Never liekd that teacher anyways.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
