Over the years I have written quite a bit about my family and being a dad. I have shared the good, the bad, and the depressing. So in my own head I think that I have earned the right to gush about Dev’s current successes (Did I mention that my son, after all the years of effort and sacrifice is officially gifted and talented?). We did not come by any of this easily or by chance. We got here through effort and strategy and love. It’s all paying off with an intelligent, novel-reading, swimming, off-the-charts mathematician who is comfortable in his independence. To maintain it all and not fall into complacency will require us to double our efforts. Luckily these years ahead, generally speaking, are the so-called quiet before the stormy years of adolescence. Of course there will be plenty of squalls between now and the teens, but we think we are up for it. Heck, we have to be.
Was that paragraph annoying? Are you telling me right now aloud, directly into your computer screen, with a string of slobber hanging from the corner of your mouth to kiss your ass? Are you asking yourself who does this guy think he is anyway, some magical parenting shaman? The friggin’ kid whisperer? If you are thinking that, I must admit that I understand. I’d bet money that more people threw up in their mouths than cheered. Sometimes it’s hard to hear good things about other people’s kids especially if you are in the often-dark and seemingly endless tunnel of the toddler and preschool years. Even if you emerged from those earlier years unscathed you may be chagrined to find that the school-aged years have gotten off to a rocky start with unwanted peer influences and disruptive classroom behavior. You may even be saying “of course it’s all good for him – he only has one!” I got it. I feel your pain too.
There will always be some kid out there who is super charming where you kid is kind of a jerk. Or a kid who is athletic wh