Whoa, summer is almost over! How did that happen? Summer is my favorite season in the Pacific Northwest. The weather is perfect for me. It’s hot, but not too hot and we have very little rain. It’s a nice break from the 9 months of doom and gloom greyness. Summer flew by and it’s almost time to go back to school. Woohoo! Back to school used to be awesome news for me when RB40Jr was small. He needed so much attention that I was glad to hand him off to school for a while.
However, RB40Jr doesn’t need much parental attention now that he is a teenager. These days, he doesn’t want to do anything with us. He only wants to hang out (mostly online) with his friends. It’s a big change, but I’m okay with it. I have more time to do my own things. I can go to the gym and ceramics classes without having to worry about him.
So RB40Jr is starting high school in about a week. The high school is close enough that he can walk or bike to school. It’ll be great. I won’t have to drive him to/from school anymore. Being a Stay-at-home dad used to be pretty tough, but now it’s a piece of cake. Luckily, our son is a good kid. He hasn’t gotten into much trouble. Hopefully, high school will be a breeze for the RB40 family as well. Today, I’ll share my experience of being a SAHD to a high school freshman teenager. It’s more expensive.
Academics
Kids face an uncertain future. AI is taking over many entry-level jobs and we don’t know what career will be good for RB40Jr. He is interested in tech, but I’m not sure if that’s the right way to go. Computer Science used to be a great major, but companies don’t need as many programmers as in the past. Programmers have been using AI to improve their productivity. AI will only get better from here and take over more entry-level tasks. There are fewer jobs in tech now. In 1996, I graduated with an ECE degree (Electrical & Computer Engineering). It was a good degree and I found a job in R&D. That’s probably still a good path. R&D is still essential for companies to get ahead. Anyway, we still have a few years to figure it out.
We visited a few university campuses when we were on a road trip to California this summer. Mrs. RB40 and I didn’t get to visit many universities when we were young, so we want to give RB40Jr a chance to see more. We visited Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. RB40Jr was impressed with Stanford the most. They have a beautiful campus in the heart of Silicon Valley. You have to be the crème of the crop to get in, though. Good luck, kiddo. We’ll have to get some student loans if you get in.
This summer RB40Jr is taking Geometry to get ahead. He was already a year ahead in math, but he wanted to be 2 years ahead so he could be in Advanced Algebra with his friends. I think that’s nuts. Why do you need to be 2 years ahead in math? You’ll run out of math classes to take in high school. But he said he can take classes at a community college when he’s a senior. Wow, that’s thinking ahead. Anyway, he got an A in the first Geometry class and he’s trying to complete the 2nd part now. I guess it’s good to get ahead. I didn’t have to do that when I was young, but it’s a different time now.
Extracurricular activities
RB40Jr’s grades were pretty good in middle school, but it’ll get real in high school. He’ll need to study more and lock in those As to boost his GPA. However, he also needs to participate in extracurricular activities to show he’s well-rounded.
This year, he’ll join his school’s Ultimate Frisbee team and learn Jiu-Jitsu. Ultimate should be good on his application. Many universities have an Ultimate team and that might give him a little edge. I’m not sure how helpful Jiu-Jitsu will be with college admissions, but it’s good exercise. Maybe someone on the admission team is a fan of martial arts. Who knows? RB40Jr studied Wushu (kung fu) for 5 years, but it was time to move on. They only did forms and didn’t have any sparring. Jiu-Jitsu has sparring and requires more exertion. He is enjoying the lessons.
We are trying to encourage him to seek other activities at school, but he hasn’t shown much interest. He went to the debate club meetings a few times in middle school. He might join the Speech and Debate club if his friends are there. I think the high school has a Robotics club as well. That might be a good opportunity to learn. High school will be busy, for sure.
I didn’t participate in any extracurricular activities when I was in high school. My parents had a Thai restaurant and I worked there when I wasn’t at school. I wasn’t interested in joining any clubs back then. It’s different now, though. Kids need more than good grades on their college application.
Back to school shopping
Lastly, the least favorite activity for parents is back–to–school shopping. RB40Jr grew a bunch last year and he’s taller than I am now. He is skinny, though. That makes it difficult to shop for clothes. He is too big for small, but too small for medium. It’s hard to find clothes that fit right. He is also much pickier than when he was young. He dislikes 99% of the clothes/shoes we looked at. Jeez… He used to wear whatever I picked out. Now, it’s a pain in the butt to shop with him.
Actually, we haven’t spent much money on back-to-school shopping yet. We got a new pair of shoes and a t-shirt. I’m not sure what else he needs. We will probably get a long list from school next week. I’m not looking forward to that.
Sample cost of raising a teenager
$840 Geometry classes for summer session.
$70 Adidas running shoes. We went to the Adidas employee store and got 50% off. The sticker price was $140. Yowza!
$15 T-shirt. We also visited the Columbia employee store. He found a t-shirt that he grudgingly accepted. He didn’t like any of the jackets, so we’ll hold off on those until the weather turns cold.
$100/month Jiu Jitsu class.
$125 for Jiu-Jitsu Gi and belt.
$85/season for the Ultimate league.
$30 cleats. As far as equipment goes, Ultimate is cheap.
Not too bad so far. Do you have kids? How is back-to-school shopping going?
Image credit: The successor to humankind, the AI overlord.
Please follow and like us:
Passive income is the key to early retirement. This year, Joe is investing in commercial real estate with CrowdStreet. They have many projects across the USA so check them out!
Joe also highly recommends Personal Capital for DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.
