A New Routine Again

So today we start another new routine, really same as the old one - the one where I drop Johnnie off at school first thing in the morning. Only this time of course he's in a different grade, the drop off point is different and there are a lot more kids than last year when really only half decided to return to school in person. Still, it wasn't really anything new to get up early, let the dog out to poop and pee. Johnnie already showered last night so all he had to do was put clothes on and then off to McDonald's to get the usual breakfast. We're not waiting until 8 AM to leave though. We would usually leave around 7:40 so we could be among the first in line. Faster for me to get in and out of there that way. Except that today, when we did get there around 7:45, there were already at least a dozen kids in line. I think it's because the first and second graders share the entry gate. I didn't recognize any of the kids already in line. Until Brooklyn came dropped off by her grandmother. Johnnie and Brooklyn walked in to class together yesterday. It was as if it was TK all over again. And today they would do so again.  I really WAS in and out of there and I was off before it was even 8 AM. When I drove off, there were still lots of parents barely getting there. It's sort of a rehearsal for me as well if ever I need to be at work early. I know I can be done with drop-off before 8 AM. Anyway I had loads of work to do today. It's Tech Council Meeting week after all. And I wouldn't even be able to get to it first thing. That's because we had a Leadership Summit meeting from 9 - 11 AM. I'm all for these Leadership Summit things if only because it shows that the Executive Management team are at least doing something to help improve our skills as managers. Today's topic was Emotional Intelligence and there is nothing more important in my opinion than a leader/manager's Emotional Intelligence in terms of being able to lead a team. Certainly I've tried to incorporate it into my management style even from a while back, trying to emulate Tom Gordon. But I am NOT Tom Gordon and I do not have that ability to invoke loyalty from those that work for me. Or do I? I think I AM a good manager and a good leader and I do think it's because I have empathy. Not always. But I try to... most of the time. Even when I don't want to be bothered by personalities and individual quirks, I still try to remind myself of the human stuff. That everyone has "stories". Including ME.

So despite a bit of a late start, I did finish the bulk of my presentation by mid-afternoon. Even while I tried to catch up on a team meeting I otherwise had to miss this morning. Gotta be a good leader that way don't I?! I just put my head down and worked away and when I looked up it was already time to pick up Johnnie. That's another thing that was different. He's in the STAR program again and it's a good thing we did get him enrolled because the Beyond-the-Bell program couldn't get a coach. And so there is no Beyond-the-Bell. There was a familiarity about coming to the gate and picking him up. Really no different than last school year's Beyond the Bell, just different people heading up the STAR program. Today it was almost 5 PM by the time I picked up Johnnie, and he was really sweaty too. Which meant he was in the middle of something physical. That was a good thing.  We headed straight to Panda Express to get his dinner. No need to stop at the apartment I thought. And where Johnnie thought he was going to get a lunch and THEN a dinner, my idea was to simply to do an early dinner and let him load up with whatever dessert he wanted. Of course he didn't eat the pasta lunch I made for him. He barely eats anything for lunch anyway. At least he ate the yogurt snacks. And he did eat all the strawberries. So really I couldn't complain. I had the new crispy almond chicken over rice for MY dinner. And afterwards I made the old Tuesday routine chocolate chip cookies. AND I made banana bread (see pic). I figured I'd give him that for lunch for tomorrow. Funny, with all the busy-ness of this week, really my main concern was what to pack for Johnnie's lunch. Still I did get most of my work done, which meant I knocked off when Johnnie did. 9:30 PM. And when I turned to kiss Johnnie goodnight, I told him "I love you". 'I love you too Dad" came the reply. NOTHING beats that. I went to sleep with a full heart.