I can remember when I held my seven and a half year old as he trembled before 2nd grade. We toured the school with the principal and I did not know how to help him relax and just breathe. I was new to this too!

Fast forward to next week, my son starts 10th grade, how did we get here. There were artwork, projects , field trips, tears, laughter and calls from the principal and BAM! he grew up, got a job and started shaving!

My worries are different but very real. I worried that he would not make friends, now I worry about what they are doing when I am not around.

I worried that he would always be concerned with looks, and now I worry that too many girls will find him attractive.

I worried that he would not learn necessary skills, now I worry he knows more about covering his tracks online than I do.

It's still a cruel world out there but sometimes he's the cruel one. Its this boy who thinks only of himself, is rude at every turn, thinks he knows more than anyone in the world and can turn any conversation into an argument...

But he is also a young man with a great sense of humor, a very intelligent and clever being, a wonderful son who has worked hard to make me his real father. He is a person with a caring heart who likes to hide it behind a silent exterior.

I know that parenting is not for cowards... i never considered myself brave, but I have found courage to face fatherhood, wish me luck...Jesus Take the wheel!

c u around the playground,

father for life