I wanted to share my passions. He had spotted a snail.

Julien had prepared two rods to go fishing with Oscar, his four-and-a-half-year-old son. He had chosen an easy spot to reach, packed a snack and imagined the moment they would watch the float disappear together.

Oscar held his rod for a few minutes, then spotted a snail in the grass. He wanted to know where it was going. The float could disappear without him.

Julien had already encountered this mismatch while watching an old film he loved. His child didn’t necessarily enjoy his hobbies, even when he introduced them enthusiastically. Oscar had preferred a cartoon whose characters Julien could never remember.

The outing had started long before that morning

Even before becoming a father, Julien had imagined passing on the things he loved: trips to the water, films to watch again and stories to tell afterwards. It wasn’t just a list of activities. It was how he pictured time with his children.

So when Oscar put down the rod, Julien called him back. He explained that they hadn’t caught anything yet and needed to be patient. Oscar asked whether they could follow the snail instead.

Julien felt a small disappointment, out of proportion to an outing that had lasted twenty minutes. Yet Oscar wasn’t rejecting his dad or the morning. He had simply shown him what interested him.

Perhaps he would enjoy fishing later. Perhaps not. Julien didn’t need to settle that question beside the pond.

Offer your hobby without expecting equal enthusiasm

He could keep showing Oscar what he enjoyed, choosing a short moment suited to his age rather than expecting him to experience the outing as a fisherman already.

But an invitation also needed room for an answer. Otherwise, Julien would end up asking Oscar to play the child he had imagined.

He put away the second rod and suggested staying by the water a little longer, then walking together. Oscar agreed, provided they looked for more snails.

Julien didn’t have to give up his tastes or pretend to share all of Oscar’s. He could keep some outings for himself and look for pleasures that worked for both of them.

On the way home, Oscar showed him a leaf full of holes. Julien stopped to look. They hadn’t caught a single fish, but Oscar still had plenty to tell him.