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{"id":7463,"date":"2022-06-26T21:18:54","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T04:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rjgeib.com\/?p=7463"},"modified":"2022-06-29T10:56:36","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T17:56:36","slug":"total-immersion-spanish-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rjgeib.com\/total-immersion-spanish-costa-rica\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Stretch Your Wings and Fly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
I got a late start in the parenting game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was 36 when I first got married (I was cautious), and I was 39 when my firstborn took her first breaths outside the womb. I was 42 when my second and last child was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, I am an old dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am sure there are many negatives to being an older dad: less available energy, increased grouchiness, and you will die earlier in your child\u2019s life. But there are upsides: you are more mature and settled, additional patience is available, and you can appreciate better \u201cthe big picture.\u201d Maybe you have earned some wisdom over the years (and maybe not). If so, your kids will benefit from that. I fret to think about what kind of father I would have been at 25 or 30-years of age. Yikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am 55-years old now. My older daughter, Julia, is fifteen and will soon start her sophomore year of high school. Like all teens, she has her struggles. But she is thriving \u2014 I have taught high school for over two decades and I know a teenage success story when I see it. My daughter is in a specialized science academy in her high school, and she is also a reporter on the school newspaper. Add Julia\u2019s other Honor\u2019s classes to the mix, and she doesn\u2019t even have room in her schedule for her foreign language class. So we will pay for a tutor so Julia can learn Spanish on weekends. And she is a varsity player on the tennis team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I look at all this, and I suspect I will barely see adolescent Julia over the next three years, as she will be so busy. Many of my buddies tell me that they don\u2019t often see their teenagers between school, homework, extracurriculars, and friend obligations; the kids are busy. But Julia has focus, ambition, and drive \u2014 high school is well launched for her. Next thing I know, she\u2019ll be off to college. Life is speeding up. Is Julia slipping away out of my life already? The thought brings a bit of panic to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then I remember. I teach at the high school she attends, and I am the coach of her tennis team on campus. So we will be together for huge chunks of the time over the next three years. I am Julia\u2019s ride to and from campus everyday; I sometimes feel like her personal chauffeur, inside and outside of school. I am still important. Julia will have all the support she needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But she is well launched into high school, as I mentioned, and this leads me to hope to be able to recede into the background. This is Julia\u2019s show. I will try to stand back and watch what she can do. In nine months Julia will have her driver\u2019s license. In three years she will be ready to apply to college. In four years she will be moving away from home into her university dorm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n