The Blogfathers

My dear son,

What a crazy year it has been as we both finish our first years of school; you in kindergarten, me in grad school. 39 years apart and we a tackling our education with as much energy & passion as we can.

You and I are so similar when it comes to school. Studying comes hard for us, but friendships do not. Both of our teachers have indicated that it is extremely difficult for us to stay focused. My apologies in advance for passing on that trait.

Education is about learning and we have both benefited from these lessons.

We both had our achievements rewarded. You got five green days in a row and went to McDonalds. I made a 3.8 my first semester and went to Ruths Chris.

We both have had our frustrations. You hit a little in the girl in face and went to the principal’s office. I spent a whole year wanting to hit my teammate in her face for doing nothing to help the group.

We both joined teams this year. You started soccer and I connected with 5 other people who helped me get through these 32 weeks of classes.

We both jammed on certain subjects. You learned that 13 take away 7 is 6. I learned to calculate elasticity by looking at the percentage change in quantity over the associated percentage change in price.

We both had subjects that kicked our ass. You are still struggling a bit with upper and lowercase letters. I never could learn how to determine positive convexity on a 8-year semiannual note yielding 4.5% that was callable in 5 years.

We both learned that food can be iffy. You were surprised that school didn’t always serve chicken nuggets. I was shocked that my program would serve lamb and scallops on the same day.

We both received wonderful gifts from classmates. You got a rock and a dead worm from Devin. I got box seats at the Bon Jovi concert from Scott.

We both were chick magnets. You told me, “Emily is my girlfriend but we don’t kiss.” I told you, “Stephanie & Becca totally rock.” (And for the record, we don’t kiss either.)

We both felt overwhelmed at times. You struggled to stay in the lines when printing. I wanted to quit during statistics.

I want you to know how proud I am of you. The smile on your face as you tell us this week’s accomplishments have made me the happiest man alive. I have loved watching you learn; about this world and even more, about yourself.

Your excitement about school has gotten me through MY first year. I have so struggled with this program, but when I think of what you are tackling, I only want to make you as proud of me as I am of you.

Welcome to first grade, my little man.

School