Our Boys

Even when I'm not on duty, it never ceases to be an action pact week. But that's fine by me! The boys are settling in nicely and beginning to feel the full effect of life at St. Andrew's. This will allow them to become acculturated with the school and learn what it means to be Andreans.
I noticed this week, however, that as a Housemaster, you begin to take ownership over the boys' progress. And, on some level, you begin to experience and feel what they are going through. For example, this week there were homesickness issues, discipline issues (albeit minor), injuries (hospital trips 3 of 4 days...minor injuries, as well), and successes on the sports fields. Every time something happens, you feel it as a Housemaster. Although I knew a certain amount of emotion is tied to this job, I wasn't fully aware that I would feel every possible emotion in the span of 5 days!
My wife and I were playing with Conor in our backyard when my duty master showed up. She came into the backyard to see Natascia and Conor while I spoke to 5 of the Flavelle boys at the entrance to the yard. My duty master asked, "Are you not going to hang out with your boy?", rather jokingly. I said, "I am hanging out with my boys!" Don't get me wrong, I will never sacrifice my time with Conor but I do consider the Flavelle boys as part of the family (at least on some level). Which, I guess, is why we celebrate the success and lament the failures...and you feel everything in between.
When Cole made an absolutely massive hit on the quarterback of TCS this past Saturday in his debut game, the entire SAC bench went crazy. I was on the sideline speaking to a parent when I saw the hit. I explained, most emphatically, "That's was Cole. He lives in my house!" And, of course, I was proud. I found myself watching Max, Adam, Zeck, Matt, Patrick, Hamilton, James, Shane, Tolo, and Seung Mock particularly, not just the whole team (even though I couldn't find each of them, I was still looking!). As a proud father would do, I watched an smiled, proud of each of their respective accomplishments...and hoping that Cole never takes me out in a open field tackle!