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| Or at least blaming each other for that hole in the wall |
In the past I would have celebrated my newfound moments of freedom by firing up a new season of Greys Anatomy, starting a multi-team dynasty on NCAA Football, or just taking a nice short nap. Well...not the Greys Anatomy thing....because I'm already on that! Season 7 is SOOOO good!
However, this time around something (or some things) are different. My priorities are different. I'm different. And so my plan is....different (you guys keeping up?). And that plan involves volunteering. At local schools. The local schools my kids are attending (still not convinced you guys are keeping up- I think I lost most of you at 'Saved By The Bell')
Yes, yes, I know that there are some who think I'm just the hovering control-freak dad who can't stand to let go of his little babies, and so he dresses up like a pretty girl who was a nerd in high school but is actually smoking hot, but still can't get in the popular crowd (especially since a mishap with a nightclub stamp led to the word 'LOSER' being imprinted on her forehead) to buy in until her brother David Arquette also goes back to school and tells everyone she used to date him (which is not that big of a stretch. This is David Arquette we're talking about) and then she becomes popular but ends up with a creepy teacher in the end.
But I'm not that guy- because that guy is actually a girl, and that girl is actually Drew Barrymore. That's so flattering though!
No, this is a much deeper desire birthed out of a few different life events. Yes, the fact that my kids are in school is an incentive to be involved, to make sure that the educational system is functioning the way I think it should (and if I get to play 'Big Brother', even better).
However, I've also thought about volunteering for awhile. Which probably makes me like a majority of Americans. We watch the infomercials about starving children in Africa, and we think 'oh man, that's too bad'. We feel guilty for a bit and then we go back to watching Jerry Springer. Not everyone is like this though. Lots of my social work cohort volunteered, for example. I always felt like I should be volunteering too, but I can't say that at the time I was ready. Having two kids in diapers I never really had the chance to find out. Now I do- and I am.
Of course, I'm probably being too hard on myself. Raising children, in the early years, is like sprinting a marathon. You have to be able to react to things at a moments notice, while simultaneously being able to pace yourself for long stretches. We could have done day care, but there technically was no real need. Besides, we had made a conscious decision, back when we first had Delaney in the group home, that we were going to be the ones to raise our children.
Five years later, and we've crossed that bridge (not completely with Shane- but we're almost there). It's taken sacrifice, grace, federal assistance, and family (lots of family)- but we've made it. I feel like volunteering in the schools is a thing I can do to give back to others- pay it forward, so to speak. So many people poured into our lives to make it possible for us to love our children, and now I want to pour into the lives of other people's children- or at least do things that free up time for other people to create their own precious moments.
Also, there are things of career to consider. Sara and I have sort of tag-teamed the last few years, alternating between being students and being stay-at-home-fill-in-the-blanks. But now we are entering into a season of life that will (hopefully) be much more stable- and thus, a season to think about the future.
Because of shifting employment and the ever-fluctuating schedule of a collegiate student (espeically music majors), we haven't had much stability, and with the kids entering into school, that is not only more of a possibility- but also a desire. I would love to have a nice steady 9-5 Monday through Friday type-job. And I feel like volunteering at school is going to help me to get there. Not only will it be good volunteer experience (which always looks good on the resumes), but it will expose me to different facets of the educational experience (which is possibly an area I'd like to work in) and different types of people as well.
I believe in our education system. No really, I do. Seriously- I know I have a tendency to joke around, and use sarcasm and slight-of-hand-type humor, but this time I'm really being on the up-and-up. Geez, you guys are making me feel like Padme' telling Obi-Wan that there's still good in Anakin.
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| 'I'm not dead' 'Not de...what? I cut you in half!' 'No you didn't' '....for the love...Obi-Wan, I severed your lower torso from your upper. Your legs are over there!' 'Nope. That's just a flesh wound' '.........' |
Because I plan to be involved in it. I'm no longer content to sit around and kvetch about the problem. The turkey-stuffed classroom sizes. Lack of funding. Insufficient learning. Standardized testing. If the Marquette educational system is going to fall apart, it damn sure isn't going to fall apart because I was too busy leading the Central Michigan Chippewas to the promised land.
After the first day of kindergarten, each kid had a letter come home detailing areas that needed some volunteer help. The seed was planted. As I went through the list, it was simultaneously watered, weeded, fertalized, harvested, and taken to the market. Library? Sure, love to help. Lunchroom? Check. Count box tops and soup labels? Well, I can count, so you can count- on me. Edit the school yearbook? Just call me Jim Bellows.
Sandy Knoll School Association meetings (which I assume are their version of the PTA)- planning on 'em. And it's not just with Delaney's school. Shane's Headstart program places a premium on helping out- whether it be at fundraisers or in the classroom, parent participation is promoted passionately. Indeed, I have already volunteered to be the classroom's Parent Policy Council representative. You might not have heard of it....it's kind of a big deal.
Please know I'm not telling you all this to toot my own horn (although, given my tendency to toot my own horn, I see where you could get confused). I want to spell all this out, in part, to soothe the worriers that I have much bigger ambitions than holding on to a few more invaluable seconds of face time. Mostly, I'm just very excited about entering into this chapter of my life, and I hope that some of my excitement will rub off on you, the reader, and inspire you to set aside your own selfish ambitions for the sake of pursuing some noble cause that is in service to mankind. And then I want you to thank me for it in dramatic speech form. Not like, an Oscars speech-I'm talking like a William Wallace kind of speech. Or like Aragorn at the Black Gates.
A final thought- a couple months ago I wrote about a guy who was involved at Bullock Creek named Mr. Ostyn. Mr. Ostyn didn't have a fancy title- or even a well-defined role, as far as I could tell. But he made a difference in kids lives. It should be noted that Mr. Ostyn was slapping high fives in the hallowed halls of the Creek years after his own children had graduated and moved on. That's the type of man I want to be.
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| "I really thought I checked the 'Count Campbell Soup labels' box, not the 'Lead a Suicide Mission to Mordor' box. If I make it out of this alive, I'm going straight to the office and double check that" |
That's what volunteering means to me. This is a chance to make a difference. This is about creating a legacy. Not a legacy so that I can look back and hear people sing songs about me. It's about being a Mr. Ostyn in the life of a child, who shows that child that they have value not because of what they do or who they hang out with- but because they are.
Aragorn- http://images2.fanpop.com/images/polls/252000/252478_1244993835479_full.jpg
Mulan- http://0.tqn.com/d/create/1/0/b/t/2/-/mushu.jpg
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