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Kids at the Top of the Stairs

October 16, 2012 By 13 Comments

I posted the following on my Facebook page:

Being a parent makes me a better teacher, but being a teacher often makes it difficult to be a better parent. Suggestions?

I received many kind words of encouragement and some great feedback.  Below is a poignant, funny, and practical comment from friend and fellow blogger, Gina Valley:

Take some time to decompress between work and home so you can make a break between Teacher and Dad. Shoot some hoops. Go for a jog. Have a beer. Blast some rock! Whatever it takes to shift your focus. Then, plan to have the first activity you do at home be a non-teaching opportunity, like wrestling on the floor or walking backward together or throwing wet paper-towels at the shower. -Gina Valley

With all the advice in mind, including Gina’s, I took some time after school to unwind.  When I pulled into the driveway I finished listening to “For Those About to Rock” before I left my car.

My son was waiting at the window, watching and waving as I approached our front door.  When I opened the door, my daughter was waiting at the top of the stairs; my son joined her soon after.  They were chanting, “Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home!  Daddy’s home!”  Perfection.

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About James Hudyma

Dad. Husband. Teacher. Minivan. Some hair. Some gut. Strong coffee. Guitars. Songwriter.

  • GinaValley

    @SaskaDad Gonna go check that out cuz that sounds like a lot more fun than the work I should be doing! :-)

  • http://ginavalley.com/ gina valley

    Sounds absolutely like perfection.
    You’re not just dad; you’re a rock star!

    • JamesHudyma

      @gina valley I will never get tired of being called a rock star.  Thanks and thank you for the awesome comment.

  • SaskaDad

    @readbradthedad thanks. We got quite a bit of snow that lasted a week. Green now but more snow this weekend.

  • http://www.therookiedad.com/ therookiedad

    This is something that I think we all struggle with on a daily basis.  How do we decompress from the day.   I have lucked out and have a natural break, my commute home is about 40 minutes which gives me enough time to yell in the car “to” the people who pissed me off that day and shift my focus to my wife and son.  Best feeling in the world is when I come home and my son starts to smile laugh just at the sight of me… as long as he isn’t laughing because I am funny looking.

    • JamesHudyma

      @therookiedad I agree.  It is the best.  I don’t think he thinks you’re funny looking… yet.

  • ManvDadhood

    I too have a 40 minute commute to make my work-to-home transitions. However, I don’t mind turning on the teacher side when I’m at home, because its usually an energizing thing to me to have those teaching opportunities and to take advantage of them.
    I have also had to turn on the classroom manager side when there are a lot of my kids’ friends around and one or two start getting a bit crazy. However, it’s nice to come home and just enjoy my kids right at the start.

    • JamesHudyma

      @ManvDadhood I keep focusing on the 40 minute commute part in your and @therookiedad comment.  It takes me 10 minutes on a bad day.  I love living in a small city.

      • ManvDadhood

        @JamesHudyma  @therookiedad Well, mine is 40 because we moved so my wife’s is now 6 minutes.

        • JamesHudyma

          @ManvDadhood  @therookiedad That’s good.  It would be hard if both parents had to spend so much time travelling.  In my first years of teaching, my wife and I taught in Southern Saskatchewan.  We lived in the town she taught in and I would commute 30 minutes to my town.  This was before kids.  When we started family planning, we relocated.

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  • http://cloudywithachanceofwine.com Cloudy With a Chance of Wine

    Whenever I go out on my own (which isn’t often), it amazes me how great it feels when I open the front door and our little girl comes running for me, or when my husband tells me she sat at the door playing with her toys waiting for me to come home. It makes it all worthwhile. It also make me a little bit envious that my husband gets to experience that feeling everyday when he gets home!

    Awesome post. Thanks for linking up today!

    Happy New Year!

  • http://www.momaical.com Tracy @ Momaical

    I love this! It was so hard for me to change from teaching mode to parenting mode at the end of the day. I finally learned to leave all my work at my desk and then grab a coffee on my way home. I decompressed and then was ready to switch personas to be with my tiny people! But, even the fact that you’re contemplating this demonstrates what a great dad you are!

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