Fall 2023

For his 11th birthday Josef received his long awaited gift–a Nintendo Switch.  He actually bought it with his own money, so I guess the gift was just that I allowed it to happen.  I did my best to stave off the soul-sucking screens for as long as I could, but ultimately it was a battle I knew I would lose.  He had his party at an indoor bounce house place and about 15 kids showed up.  He requested Hot Cheetos and Sour Patch Kids as gifts and ended up with about 30 pounds of that stuff; it took a few weeks for him to eat his way through it all.

Fall activities included giving cross country a try–which he hated with a passion and quit as soon as he’d completed the mandated number of practices and meets–and a weekly football game I hosted for any friends and parents that wanted to play a friendly game on Sundays.  It was a blast to have a chance to play ball, it was a game I loved more than anything as a kid.  One day we even had almost 2 full teams, with 18 people playing!  Josef also volunteered with some friends to be a ball boy during CHS soccer matches.

I enjoy having an 11 year old as a roommate.  My attempts at instruction or explanation are often met with “Dad!  I’m 11, I’m not a baby!”  Josef is very rules-oriented; while he often tries to negotiate wider boundaries and is always looking for an exception or loophole, he rarely ever outright breaks them.  That makes things awfully nice for a parent and I really appreciate it.