Post by pinion on May 13, 2017 21:52:33 GMT -6
So I'm a changed man.
Sort of.
So this is what's been happening.
We've had to move off of the family farm. The farm is being sold, so that means we had to find a new place. So we moved up the road. Not a big deal. But what happened during the move, and really over the last year, is kind of a big deal.
My step son was not raised around football people until my wife and I started seeing each other. We moved to Shreveport (back to Shreveport for me) when we got married in 2012. My stepson started playing football then. Because it's kind of a big deal around here and all the kids at school either played or talked about it. He went through the phase of "I want to be in the NFL" for about a year. I saw that slowly start to fade. He never hated the game, it just got to where it wasn't a very big deal. I blame several things on that, but that's really irrelevant and mostly just my opinion. Either way, about a year ago he told me that he had no intentions of playing football after high school and wanted to quit football because if he wasn't going to play after HS it was stupid to continue playing. I discouraged that attitude. Mainly because I feel like he needs to be doing something besides sitting on his butt all the time. It seems as though kids these days won't go outside unless they have to.
So he agreed that maybe quitting was the wrong thing to do. Then, during the season he decided again that he was going quit. I guess he discussed this with his mom and then went to school and quit the team. I found out when I went to pick him from practice and he was not practicing.
He ended up getting back on the team after some discussion and me basically telling him it was crappy to commit to something and then to not finish it with no real explanation. He was fine with it, but has made it a point to mention, as often as possible, that he will not play football after high school. Which is fine. He started saying a year ago that when he graduates he wants to go into the military. I'm okay with that and think it would do him some good.
When we were registering for school next year, I asked him if he was going to play or not and he looked at me like I was nuts. yes, he was going to play and why would I think he wouldn't... uh. yeah.
then we were moving. In the drive from the farm to the new place, we drive right by the local public school. We make the turn (it's on a corner) and there's all these kids in camo grouped up doing stuff. Kid asks me what the army is doing there. I explain it's the ROTC from all the parish schools doing ROTC stuff. I had to explain ROTC to him since Evangel doesn't have it and he's never seen anyone that's in it.
The very next day he starts with the "I want to go to public school so I can be in ROTC". And really, that's fine with me. I didn't make him go to ECA, it was his choice. So I figure it's fair that he can decide to not go. We sat on it for as long as we reasonably could and finally made the choice to let him have his way.
So he's transferring to the public school (Northwood, shv) for the upcoming year.
Because I like to stir the pot, I asked him if he'd be playing football at Northwood. He told me "I don't think I can because I don't think I play football and ROTC". He asked me to find out. So I did. It turns out that he can do both as long as his grades are good. Because he's never attended public school (in 8th-now) and we've always lived in Northwood's attendance zone, he is legal to play.
I told him he probably wouldn't be starting at Northwood since all those other kids have already been there. He said he didn't care.
So I guess it's off to Northwood we go and we'll see if he sticks with it. since he has no intention of playing of high school.
We had a lengthy discussion about why he doesn't want to play after high school. His answer was simply "football is year round and it takes up all my time. That's okay now, but when I'm older, I don't want to have to worry with it all the time. There will come a point where I won't want to work out. I don't want working out and eating right to be part of my job".
I didn't tell him that the military can pretty much be that way. I figure I'll let him get there and find out. haha. No really though, I told him. He seems to think that working out for the military isn't as intense as working out for football. What I believe is that he watches too much tv and thinks the military is all about blowing stuff up and shooting guns.
So I don't know. What I do know is that since all this happened, another big ole bag of confusion has been tossed into the mix.
The job I used to work in Austin Texas contacted me this week and is hot to trot trying to get me to move back over there. So they're offering me quite a bit more money than I make here. Quite a bit more than I'll ever make at my current job.
So I've decided to ask for a little bit more money than they're offering me, moving expenses, and a sign on bonus. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. What I do know is that I've been in the new place for about 6 weeks and I'm not really excited at the prospect of moving again.
But if we do, I guess the boy will still be able to play football in Texas. Or at least that's what I'm being told.
I told him that if we do decided to head back to CenTex that I would find us a house in the school district with the worst win/loss record. He laughed. but said, "I really don't care. If they'll let me play, I'll play. If they won't, then they won't. But I want to be in ROTC".
so yeah.
This screws me up. Because I'm still and ECA guy and always will be. But if the kid is going public and plays, I have to go to his games. And I have to care.
What I'm hoping for is that the Texas thing will work out and I can move back over there. As bad as I do not want to pack up and move again, I stand to make so much more money back over there. Plus, that'll mean a short drive to Lake Travis to SCUBA dive. Not being able to dive here just really sucks. A lot.
Sort of.
So this is what's been happening.
We've had to move off of the family farm. The farm is being sold, so that means we had to find a new place. So we moved up the road. Not a big deal. But what happened during the move, and really over the last year, is kind of a big deal.
My step son was not raised around football people until my wife and I started seeing each other. We moved to Shreveport (back to Shreveport for me) when we got married in 2012. My stepson started playing football then. Because it's kind of a big deal around here and all the kids at school either played or talked about it. He went through the phase of "I want to be in the NFL" for about a year. I saw that slowly start to fade. He never hated the game, it just got to where it wasn't a very big deal. I blame several things on that, but that's really irrelevant and mostly just my opinion. Either way, about a year ago he told me that he had no intentions of playing football after high school and wanted to quit football because if he wasn't going to play after HS it was stupid to continue playing. I discouraged that attitude. Mainly because I feel like he needs to be doing something besides sitting on his butt all the time. It seems as though kids these days won't go outside unless they have to.
So he agreed that maybe quitting was the wrong thing to do. Then, during the season he decided again that he was going quit. I guess he discussed this with his mom and then went to school and quit the team. I found out when I went to pick him from practice and he was not practicing.
He ended up getting back on the team after some discussion and me basically telling him it was crappy to commit to something and then to not finish it with no real explanation. He was fine with it, but has made it a point to mention, as often as possible, that he will not play football after high school. Which is fine. He started saying a year ago that when he graduates he wants to go into the military. I'm okay with that and think it would do him some good.
When we were registering for school next year, I asked him if he was going to play or not and he looked at me like I was nuts. yes, he was going to play and why would I think he wouldn't... uh. yeah.
then we were moving. In the drive from the farm to the new place, we drive right by the local public school. We make the turn (it's on a corner) and there's all these kids in camo grouped up doing stuff. Kid asks me what the army is doing there. I explain it's the ROTC from all the parish schools doing ROTC stuff. I had to explain ROTC to him since Evangel doesn't have it and he's never seen anyone that's in it.
The very next day he starts with the "I want to go to public school so I can be in ROTC". And really, that's fine with me. I didn't make him go to ECA, it was his choice. So I figure it's fair that he can decide to not go. We sat on it for as long as we reasonably could and finally made the choice to let him have his way.
So he's transferring to the public school (Northwood, shv) for the upcoming year.
Because I like to stir the pot, I asked him if he'd be playing football at Northwood. He told me "I don't think I can because I don't think I play football and ROTC". He asked me to find out. So I did. It turns out that he can do both as long as his grades are good. Because he's never attended public school (in 8th-now) and we've always lived in Northwood's attendance zone, he is legal to play.
I told him he probably wouldn't be starting at Northwood since all those other kids have already been there. He said he didn't care.
So I guess it's off to Northwood we go and we'll see if he sticks with it. since he has no intention of playing of high school.
We had a lengthy discussion about why he doesn't want to play after high school. His answer was simply "football is year round and it takes up all my time. That's okay now, but when I'm older, I don't want to have to worry with it all the time. There will come a point where I won't want to work out. I don't want working out and eating right to be part of my job".
I didn't tell him that the military can pretty much be that way. I figure I'll let him get there and find out. haha. No really though, I told him. He seems to think that working out for the military isn't as intense as working out for football. What I believe is that he watches too much tv and thinks the military is all about blowing stuff up and shooting guns.
So I don't know. What I do know is that since all this happened, another big ole bag of confusion has been tossed into the mix.
The job I used to work in Austin Texas contacted me this week and is hot to trot trying to get me to move back over there. So they're offering me quite a bit more money than I make here. Quite a bit more than I'll ever make at my current job.
So I've decided to ask for a little bit more money than they're offering me, moving expenses, and a sign on bonus. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. What I do know is that I've been in the new place for about 6 weeks and I'm not really excited at the prospect of moving again.
But if we do, I guess the boy will still be able to play football in Texas. Or at least that's what I'm being told.
I told him that if we do decided to head back to CenTex that I would find us a house in the school district with the worst win/loss record. He laughed. but said, "I really don't care. If they'll let me play, I'll play. If they won't, then they won't. But I want to be in ROTC".
so yeah.
This screws me up. Because I'm still and ECA guy and always will be. But if the kid is going public and plays, I have to go to his games. And I have to care.
What I'm hoping for is that the Texas thing will work out and I can move back over there. As bad as I do not want to pack up and move again, I stand to make so much more money back over there. Plus, that'll mean a short drive to Lake Travis to SCUBA dive. Not being able to dive here just really sucks. A lot.