Great Weekends - A Perspective

It has now been over 3 years since I have coached debate. I coached for 5 years at Smithson Valley HS and it was an amazing time of life in a lot of ways. I married, we had a child, I was completely new to debate and was having my first real successful go at the teaching career thing. My first 3 years of teaching were difficult to say the least. In the midst of all the change, though, coaching brought late evenings and many long weekends.

My normal routine involved staying late most days to hold practices. I came home around 6:30 or 7 on a regular basis and later when needed. At home I still had papers to grade and lessons to prepare. Weekends were the domain of debate tournaments and despite my sincere belief that this was a great activity for any student to engage in, I dreaded the time they took. Even as a nominally active team (many teams competed far more often than we did) we were still on the road 1 out of just about every 3 weekends. And that wears on you. Being gone until 2am Friday and Staturday nights was just no fun.

When I left coaching to take the job that led to what I do now, webmastering at Judson ISD. I was excited to say the least. But, I had no idea what I was really getting. In our married life, I had always been a coach. We always just dealt with the time away. Looking back I remember it felt normal at some level, but normal was tough. I frequently called Cheryl around lunch on a tournament Saturday and would long to just be at home. "I wish I could be there with you, baby."

Fast forward to today. Like most working guys I put in 40 hours a week - more if needed. But, at the end of the day, I usually turn of the office lights, pick up my car keys and walk out the door. And weekends, those are mine. All of them. We have enjoyed travel to see family, camping trips and a host of other activities that were either forgone completely or enjoyed at the cost of a precious weekend at home.

Today, I got up - took care of some home maintenance. Played legos with my son. Took a nap and am now enjoying a quiet afternoon. I do not know how much others would appreciate the pace, but I think that I will forever have a slightly different (and better) attitude given my experiences in the past! Now off to hang with the family.