Day 53

 

The First Day of School

 

These commands I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk to them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

 

On the day my son started school I didn't have to worry about which bus route he was on. He was so excited he needed to register a flight plan with the F.A.A. I had never seen anyone so eager to start  kindergarten. I thought about taking him to have a genetic blood test to see if he was really mine. Maybe babies got switched at the hospital and some very intellectual parents were wondering why their son would rather stay at home and gaze into a kaleidoscope.

 

As excited as he was I could tell he had some fears as well. As much as we had told him about school it was still a great unknown for him. But the truth was it was I who was the most apprehensive as he started school.

 

I told my wife, "Now we will get to find out if we have done a good job or not." I wondered how he would handle peer pressure. At home he was never pressured to do anything wrong, not that he didn't manage to do it on his own. At home he could grow and mature at his own pace. At school there would be older kids and enticements that age and maturity had to offer. He was an only child and had been the center of attention from the time of his birth when newspapers across the country told the story of the "miracle baby." I wondered if he would learn to get along in a universe he was not the center of.

 

We prayed before he went to school. We prayed for him that he would have a good day. We prayed for his teacher. No one knew better than I how much his teacher  would need our prayers. My son could talk to you until your ears bled.

 

I was not real concerned about academics. He was very bright and knew how to read before he went to school. I knew he would do well. My wife was complaining that in a few years he would be taller than her. I told her, "What are you worried about. In a few years he will be smarter than me." He would wake up in the morning and the first thing out of his mouth was some new fact he had learned. He would open his eyes and say, "Hi Dad. Did you know panda bears aren't really bears? If I was a big eagle I would be strong enough to hold different things in each talon." He was a human Discovery Channel.

 

It was hard for me to believe he was in school. It seemed like it was just a few days before that I was amazed at his abilities when he made gurgling sounds and blew spit bubbles while shaking his rattle. I could not help but think how proud my first wife (who died when he was a 1 year old) would be of him. And I couldn't help but be thankful for the amazing job that my wife Jo had done with him. They had both been selfless when it came to him: The first risking her life that he might be born; the second giving up her freedom to be his mother.

 

Even though I had a lot of concerns about him going to school I was confident he would be okay. You see, I knew what motivated my son. I knew that more than anything he wanted to please his dad, to make me proud. He gave me that awesome power over him. I pray I have used it wisely.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9

 

• How deeply committed are we to be to the command of God if we expect our children to be committed to them?
• How diligent are we to be in letting our kids know what God expects of them?
• Whose responsibility is it to teach your child the ways of God?