Career advice from my son

Last year, when I suggested to my youngest son, who was still in high school at the time, that I might get my emergency certification and become a substitute teacher, he laughed. I’m not talking about a “yea, right laugh” full of sarcasm, I’m talking about a full-blown belly laugh like it was the best joke he heard in two years.

When he was done laughing and I helped him back to his feet, he asked where I was thinking of subbing. “My school or somewhere else?”

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Now when you’re a parent, you’re never quite in on the jokes. Sometimes you’re even the butt of the joke. When you mix my son with his brother and sister, I usually have the “laughter bulls-eye” aimed directly at me. The trick is to know what you are at any point in time. In this situation, I have to admit that I was lost. 

I knew he was laughing at me, but his demeanor seemed to be a reflection of the challenging job. “Dad, do you realize how tough subs have it. There’s no way you want to be a substitute teacher.”

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I get it. I agree with him. Substitute teachers have an incredibly tough job. Student behavior, the craziness of the schedule, the stress all make it challenging.

Now who knows where my career in the latter stages will take me. I could ramp up, I could ramp down, I could go in a million different directions. I can’t see teaching in the cards in the near future, at least not at the high school level, but the back-and-forth, the give-and-take with my son, well err, that was well worth it, even if I am the cause of his laughter.

I’ll take that any day.