To catch a fish

Who: Style editor Hayley Kaufman, her husband Chris McNulty, and their kids Nate, 4, and Rachel, 1
What: Fishing
Where: Nut Island

Fishing can be tough on a preschooler. It requires patience and equanimity and a willingness to stand still, attributes I don't commonly associate with my son Nate. Still, on a recent Saturday, we bought a bucket and bait and headed to Nut Island on a quest for snapper blues.

Way down at the end of Hough's Neck in Quincy, Nut Island has a spotty history. After the Civil War, ships were dismantled and burned there. In the 1950s, it became home to a sewage treatment facility. Now that stuff is pumped nearly 5 miles away to Deer Island, so the harbor shallows are cleaner, and the pier draws weekend fishermen who set up folding chairs and spend a breezy afternoon near the water.

I'll tell you right now, we didn't land any fish. But we saw plenty of people reeling in their shiny catch. One guy pulled up a trap full of baby crabs, which Nate helped him gently toss back in. A man in a speed boat cruised by and held up what looked to be a 2-foot striper. The crowd nodded in admiration.

Around the time Rachel tried to remove her diaper (not totally inappropriate, given the site's history), we figured it was time to pack up. But then a couple of sunbaked old-timers wearing Crocs and pedometers encouraged the kids. "Caught any fish yet?" they asked. "No, not yet," we said. "Oh, they're comin'."

Nate smiled and looked down at the lure, bobbing on the water. "Mom," he said. "Am I doing a great job waiting?" A great job, indeed. [Hayley Kaufman]