My oldest daughter entered into the school systems as a kindergartner back in 2006. Since 2005, I escaped from my job and started a home based business. Ever since that day, I’ve had the flexibility to volunteer in all of my children’s classes in many different capacities. This year, I’m a school volunteer P.E. teacher….and I’m loving it!

Is there any better way to spend your time than with a bunch of screaming, happy third graders?

I think not….most of the time! Occasionally, there are those moments where I wonder if I have any control of them at all.

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I promise you this, if you can find a way to take your kids sword fighting with cattails, your kids will love you for it! I don’t know a single kid that doesn’t love making a mess and whacking things with a stick, so add this one to your list of fun outdoor activities to do with kids.

As you probably already know, yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. day, and because of it, my kids were given the day off from school. So, as a work from home Dad, one of the most difficult things for me to do is to work while my kids are off from school. And you might think that it’s because they’re running around the house like a bunch of monkeys while I’m trying to record a YouTube video or write up a blog post, and that might be part of the reason. But the main reason is that I want to get out and do something fun with them while they have a free day.

So, instead of working, I decided to take the day off!

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First off, everyone effected in any way by the horrific school shootings in Connecticut today will be included in my prayers. There isn’t a decent soul in this country that isn’t grieving for those innocent lives that were lost today.

I have a mild glimpse of the emotions going through every citizen and child involved in that horrible crime. A few years ago, while living in Payson Arizona, I received a call from a friend who informed me that my children’s school was in lock down. Someone on school grounds had seen a man wearing a trench coat, carrying a gun, walking around the school’s premises.

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One of my biggest worries lately is that I may not be working as much as I should be. I’ve been spending a lot of time, running around town, attending my children’s events, coaching basketball, and doing everything else, other than working. On average, I probably get a solid two to four hours of focused work accomplished in a day. I mean, I can piece in thirty minutes here or there, but I’m not very productive during those times.

Today, I attended my daughters Christmas program. After dropping our kids off at school, just as we do every morning, we decided to drive over the the auditorium in order to get a good seat. We had about 35 minutes to kill before the show started, and so the funnest thing to do, of course, is to check out all the interesting people pouring in. As they do, I start noticing how many ladies there were in the room.

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Since I work from home, I am able to be flexible with my work schedule. On an average day, I work around 4 to 5 hours which gives me the time to be involved in the lives of my children.

This year I have decided to volunteer to coach my daughters girls basketball team. My experience in coaching 10, 11 and 12 year old girls is extremely limited, but so far I’ve had a blast. Having recently moved into the Thatcher school district, I wasn’t sure I would be chosen out of the many who had volunteered to be coaches this year. Most of them have graduated from Thatcher High and have been residents of this area since then. But when I received the call to coach, I was told that I came highly recommended. Can you say, “confidence boost?”

With that said, I’m a coach.

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As my family grows older, things seem to get busier and busier. The more they learn, the more excited they become, and as a result, the more they want to experience. And that’s a good thing, as long as that excitement is directed towards something virtuous. At times, it takes hard work to support a family, and that hard work takes time.

It takes Hard Work to support a family

During a leadership meeting I recently attended, helping our youth was one of the topics we received instruction on. During that lesson, we discussed what our youth think about work, and were they learning the value of it. The conversation went down a road that involved teaching our youth how to work hard. With today’s technology and all the modern conveniences we have, kids really aren’t required to work hard, physically. This is especially true for kids that live within city limits. With homes stacked on top of each other like Legos, there’s not much physical labor needed around the homestead.

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