7:30am: I received a message from someone I don’t know asking if she can call me for advice about swimming and math. I was intrigued. We had the call and it seems that she had noticed about Sofia. It was a happy surprise, a proud parenting moment, priceless. For a parent to reach out to another parent that they don’t even know (they had to find out my number and name) to ask for advice to improve their kids performance in something…. that takes guts. After the call ended, I wonder if I was bragging too much (I didn’t objectively), I gave all my takeaways and contact details of the swimming club girls joined over the summer. I wonder if I should have kept those “secrets”. But then I realized, the real secret of anything that resembles greatness is DO THE HARD WORK.
12:30pm. I went to get some chips as token of appreciation for a colleague for lend me her shoe for Sofia’s chore performance. I had to ask another colleague what she likes and my colleague said: well, R is a difficult person to buy things. I got her tempeh chips as I see her snacking them. I wonder if others think I am a difficult person to get things.
3pm: I had my last year performance call. I was expecting the highest score but didn’t get it. I was disappointed, then realized I had the wrong expectation. I should have expected less and be happily surprised.
3:30pm: I finished revising my CV for the application. It’s just 2 pages and needed to be strategic to highlight relevant experiences. Inspired by San, I asked AI to summarize the job ads to find key characteristics of the ideal candidate. It was super cool.
4pm: I had a quick call with my work buddy who moved away. I got to tell someone that I’m already exhausted by the job hunting process, and I haven’t even started. He went through the process for an entire year so he was really compassionate. It was good to vent out to someone who understands.
6pm: reading Sofia’s book for her school-reading time, To Kill a Mockingbird. I read 15 pages, what she read during school. It’s a classic that I have wanted to read for a while. It’s good to be reading someone with Sofia.
7:30pm: in bed with my kindle. Lizzy came to chat with me and then she said she’ll go back to her reading. It’s a new book that she got and she’s halfway through. I asked her to tell me about it when she finishes it. She said: oh… I already know what’s the point of the book. It reminded me that she has told to me a while back that EVERY BOOK has a point. I like how she got it early on.
Our New Journey 
That’s really awesome that that mother reached out to you. I’m sure she will take your tips to heart and put in the work it needs.
I hope you will enjoy the Mockingbird! I’ve read it several times, but only as an adult. How does Sofia like it? I love how your kids are into reading books. Is it hard for you to keep them away from the screens?
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We have strict rule about screens. No screens unless for homework and 1-1.5 hrs movies on weekends. My girls got used to that and rely more on reading and playing during free time.
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Fantastic!!
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That is very cool that a random reached out to you! I think that we should all do that more; asking for advice is hard and I think it is so easy to get sucked into only sticking with your little group, and often that group only feeds off of each other, so there is not a lot of new info getting distributed. To pull in someone from a different group is brave and probably more helpful in a lot of cases! Congratulations for being someone to look up to!
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Yes, it must have felt good to have that mom reach out to you. I’m sure you helped her- but as you said, there’s no shortcuts. The most important ingredient to success is hard work.
i should reread To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it long ago, probably in high school and I actually don’t remember most of it.
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That is great that you got to connect with another mom. So brave of her to contact you and so kind of you to provide help/information. You’re right, the real secret of anything that resembles greatness is DO THE HARD WORK!
I am still a little wary of AI/ChatGPT but it can be a helpful (starting) tool.
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That is cool that another mom tracked you down to get tips from you!
I loved To Kill a Mockingbird! I read it when I was in 8th grade, I think, and then again as an adult. I think I appreciated it way more as an adult since I had the maturity to more fully understand/appreciate the story. It’s such a great classic.
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