In the Bordelon house we are in the 7th inning stretch of the year of Epic Graduationness! With 12th and 8th grade graduations in two and a half months our days are on lock down. Penny and I walk around with a paper calendar full to the brim and our phone full of electronic dates. Gone are the free weekends. Out the window are the "date nights", that's for newlyweds. And the age of dropping off little ones at grandma's for a weekend getaway are the things of myth for us. We are on a rail to complete a goal and no selfishness will deter us from all that must be accomplished to get there. If you are unwilling to sacrifice for a child then I suggest something other than parenting.
How do you plan a selfish night out when you need to have Senior pictures taken. When you price a hotel room on the coast and see the deposit for your Son's dorm, is there really a choice? When your 8th grader has an opportunity to take test and compete academically do you really look the other way? We love to get together with our friends, but we are not about to miss the last concert of our Son's High School career. That new restaurant with it's romantic meals sure sounds great, but my boy is throwing nine pound balls into the air this weekend, so it will have to wait. Then again, I've never understood people that don't attend their kid's functions. We are blessed with two talented boys. My oldest has excelled at band, academics, and math. I have never missed a band function, and why would I? It was only five years, I've been around for forty three. I think sacrificing five is minor league in the big picture. My younger is excelling at football, track and field, academics, and math. In his elementary football years I've missed one game due to flooding. I have no intention of missing any High School games. What's four football years in the course of my life? Why bring kids into this world if you are not going to pour your life into them? To have kids and put a roof over their heads while you go off and have your mid-life crisis is just the most selfish thing I can think of in this world. It's a real head scratch-er for me.
So we march on with our date with destiny. Our goal, to raise two whole, complete young men. While the nay-sayers will shout things like, "think of yourself" and "you are worshiping your kids". I say, it's better than worshiping myself. I choose to enjoy the weekends filled with trips to colleges, end of year concerts, banquets, awards ceremonies, rehearsals, etc, etc, etc. When our job is done, the wife and I will find a sandy beach and sink our tired, broken-down bodies into it for a spell. Enjoy some alone time, rejuvenate, and do so with a big smile knowing we've poured all we could into our boys. But until then our calendar will be locked up with the task at hand. Because that's why we came together, to raise kids that will be the best things we can set forth on this Earth. Despite what this world is, and despite what short comings we may have. In the end don't judge us for our weekend getaways, judge us for the offspring we've left behind.
