Ed Castro's Blog

Parenting seemed like fun when I wasn’t a father. I have a 4 year old girl, and she is what we call “a spirited child”. Since I am a middle school teacher I knew I didn’t have any real answers to the question of parenting. I was also armed with the knowledge that I didn’t know jack-squat nor could control anything regarding her personality…I just figured we’d all be learning together.
So far as I can tell, my daughter has taught me that I have a temper and I am a slave to routines. I knew the thing about my temperament before having her in my life, however it’s magnified since she started preschool where I teach. I tell myself all the time “I don’t care what other people think”, but it turns out I do. When she has a tantrum in public, I care. When she has a day at school where her behavior disrupts the learning of other children, that matters to me as well.
Admittedly she’s better now at school and in public, but I think I catch the “we need to go” signals sooner. I also recognize that there has been a lot of growth in the past year…but I still have an itchy trigger finger on the “we need to go” button. These are just a few of the many things I’ve learned about myself as a father. I should go now, my favorite My Little Pony episode is on and we laugh a lot together during this show.