Dad On Duty #45

Cookout Day (Thursday) and Bring Your Dad To School Day (Friday)

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Basically spent two days straight at the other job. And gonna do it again this week. They’re probably getting sick of me.

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Thursday was our cookout day. The cafeteria folks grilled burgers and dogs and everybody went outside to eat. Lots and lots of parents and family attended.

Right as I got to work in the am, the AP basically collides with me in the hallway. She’s a little flustered. The Boss is gone at a meeting. The AP, as she zooms past me, says “oh, glad you’re here. Mike (the head custodian) isn’t here yet and we haven’t setup for the cookout. Need to get that done”. And she keeps going down the hall.

The cookout starts in 30 minutes.   This will be a challenge. I kinda stand there for a minute in stunned silence.

Halfway down the hall the AP spins around and sheepishly says “sorry. Good morning!   Glad to see you!” Then dashes off.

Thankfully, Mike walks in right then and we get all the tables set up with a few minutes to spare.

I’ve got another Dad helping with traffic control. The kids (and visitors) get their trays in the cafeteria, then head out the doors and walk around the back of the school to the picnic area. It’s a pretty long trek. The little kids need a lot of help finding their way, while not dropping their trays. And standing guard to watch for leakage of kids and/or visitors. Myself and the other Dad are quite busy through lunch.

Herding the little sheep and catching a lot of apples and milks as they tumble off the pliable trays. We get pretty good at juggling while walking backward stooped over at little kid level.

I did a fair amount of EMT stuff too; all the kids were playing extra rowdy. Maybe they were showing off, maybe just really excited by the change in routine. Even had to help a grandpa who got short of breath while making the hike from the parking lot to the picnic area.

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Friday was Bring Your Dad To School Day.

Dads get to have breakfast with their kids then go to class for a bit and do some activities.

We had a HUGE turnout; I think the most ever at McCoy. We ran out of food, twice. But all the dads had a great attitude about the crowd and were very patient with us.

And we had celebrities; The Boss’s dad was there, the GHS principal and the GISD superintendent.

Hopefully we looked like we knew what we were doing.

There were a few heartbroken kids, who’s dads didn’t come. It’s really tough when your friends’ dads are there and yours isn’t. I know in a few cases there was a real back story; a troubled relationship and a kid really seeking….hoping…for a positive moment with dad, that didn’t happen.

One scholar in particular really needed to see Dad here today. I was just about to go to his room and sit with him as substitute Dad when his actual dad showed up. Phew.   That kid was very happy, and had a great day….all because of two hours of dad time.

I spent some extra individual time with two scholars today. We worked on cleaning up the grounds from the picnic, sorting books and arranging some art. I talk with them directly about behaviors and choices. But I’ve also found they’re really good for each other; I tell kid#1 that I need his help teaching kid#2 a certain skill that only kid#1 has, and vice versa. I also tell them about what the other is really good at, and that they can learn from each other.

I’m totally making this up as I go. I really have no idea if this is a good approach or not. But it seems to be working. Both kids seem to do better after I work with them, and if I have only one of them (either one), he will always ask about the other and if they’re doing better on “that thing” we talked about.

We’re learning to exercise empathy if nothing else. I’ll take it.

And each day, one more little step forward. I’m thankful for that too.