I am currently well into the new 2024-2025 school year. But I am barely hanging in there.
The goals I wrote down are simple to understand and two in number:
- Help my older daughter successfully survive her senior year and get accepted into a prestigious university.
- Help my younger daughter situate herself into her new high school and successfully get through her freshman year.
That is it. But, WOW, that is turning into quite the challenging task.
From getting them both out of the house on time to drive to school in the morning, to printing out stuff for them at my desk, dealing with the many parenting details at school, to teaching my own classes, coaching my older daughter’s school tennis team, to making sure my other daughter has rides to Thai boxing, my own USTA tennis leagues, etc. etc. etc. – well, I am just barely hanging on. I am also teaching four Advanced Placement classes and two Honors classes, in addition to coaching.
That is the bad news.
The good news is that while I am a veteran teacher with decades of experience, I am still young enough to handle that course load. I can get this done. I might be exhausted, but this is doable. I look at this situation in the sober light of day, and this is what I conclude. I’m on the job.
And my daughters will also have me handpicking their teachers, guiding them through school, coaching their sports teams, giving them occasionally a shoulder to cry on, driving them practically everywhere, paying for things left and right, and even teaching them personally in my classes. My daughters are with me a good chunk of the time, for better or for worse. They have PLENTY of support. Partially because of that, they are thriving.
But God help me these next few months.
I have come so far with my two daughters. We are in the last stages of their childhoods. Overall it has gone well so far; my daughters are (almost) well launched, I think. I can stay the course. I can handle the workload. I might be 57-years old, but there is energy and focus in me still. I will finish what I started. Just a bit more, Richard.
It is like so much else in life: there is what you want, but you have to pay for it. Nothing comes for free. Time to earn it. Time for heavy lifting. Time to go to work.
I will be able to catch my breath around Halloween.
So until then wish me luck, dear reader.
2023-2024
