Hop Dad

A Year at the Top

September 6, 2022 at 2:00 pm 1 comment

Congratulations, kids! You made it to the top of your schools! After a couple of months of sleeping in, this morning feels painfully early. We have gathered in the kitchen again, bolstered by the energy of the first day, to talk about what’s ahead.

As always happens during this first week, we make declarations that during our school day mornings this year we will be up a little earlier. We will enact new life habits to make our morning routines healthy and relaxing. No more sleeping in late and rushing out the door at the last minute while hopping into our shoes. This year we will have it together. Let’s check back in a month and see how that’s going.

To My Daughter As You Begin 8th Grade:

Your summer was a blockbuster of vacation trips, leadership camp, concerts, and baseball. We spent a lot of time together talking about all of these activities plus the changes that are happening in your life. Your world is expanding, friendships deepening, yet the amount of terror you feel about what is ahead is eclipsed by your enthusiasm to try new things. Your star is rising and I am so proud of how you are handling these changes.

The primary characteristic of your eighth grade year will be understanding what it means to be a leader, building on the concepts you learned while away at a week-long camp. “Leadership” is literally the name of your third period class so you will be immersed in the subject every day. This has all come about because you are now a part of the ASB council. As Public Relations Officer, you are in a position where all of the students will hear your voice every morning reading the daily announcements. You may gain some notoriety from that gig, so be careful about going off script. Middle school gossip is a powerful force in a young girl’s life.

For My Son, on Your First Day of Fifth Grade:

Baseball was everywhere during your Summer Break, whether at your tournaments with your select team or during trips to see pro teams at each local ballpark.

But, let’s face it – very little has changed for you: baseball, video games, pizza and root beer. You don’t really care to deviate from that. School has been relatively boring because you catch on to topics and tasks quickly. You have always been a conscientious student, kind and helpful to your teachers and classmates. I don’t expect that to change much this year.

Perhaps something will catch your eye and pull you in a new direction. I don’t worry about what you are doing right now because you are still in the wheelhouse of being a kid. Fifth grade is a fun time, with lots of action and just a few bothersome things like chores around the house. Please enjoy this time because, trust me, you won’t have it this good for too long.

Kids, I am proud of what we accomplished this summer. It was a storm of activities that both deepened connections and established new traditions.

As you both start your new years as veterans of your respective schools, I have a request of you: please be kind to the underclassmen. You were once one of them, as terrified during your first day at a new school as they are right now. Next year it will be YOU back down in that position, so show some empathy, please.

The backpacks are ready, the lunches are made, and your fresh, new outfits are on. Get close and pretend you like each other for the pictures.

Now, it’s time to go to school.

Entry filed under: Being Dad. Tags: Being Dad, Children, Dad, Family, Fatherhood, Kids, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting.