Raymond Lewallen

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Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world

It is wonderful to be a developer. I've spent the last 11 years doing the whole jack-of-all-trades thing. Everything from telephony to Clipper, multi-terabye RAIDs for Sql Server databases to Visual FoxPro windows apps, Perl to COM, networking to .Net web apps. Oh, and everything inbetween too.

I’ve learned more than I could have ever imagined, and I don’t know squat.  I’ve met some really great and intelligent people, and some people who aren’t so great. 

I love reading books on development, design patterns, languages, methodologies and I love to spread the knowledge.  I love teaching.  I think I’m good at it, and I present topics pretty well.

I’m definately a coder.  I love to code all day long.  I like trying new things, examining MSIL, and trying something else.  I like taking ideas and putting them to work.  I like being successful.  I love to produce results that make people happy.  I like to produce desired deliverables accurately and with maximum value.

I love being a developer.

So what is the best job in the world?  Every single night, right before her bedtime, my 22 month old daughter runs around the living room and gathers up all her books.  She stacks them up all on the ottoman in front of my chair.  She climbs up on me, squeezing herself down between me and the side of the chair.  She cross her legs, holds her hands, looks at her books and then looks up at me.  She’ll then point at her books, not saying a word, waiting patiently for me to pick the first one up.  We then read each and every one of them.  Sometimes I sing them, sometimes I use funny voices.  She points to things and tells me what they are.  “Chichen!” She’ll say.  “What does a chicken say?” I’ll ask her.  “BOK! BOK!”  We’ll do that with the half dozen or so animals she knows.  She tells me what shapes and colors and animals she sees.

That is the best job in the world.  Reading to my daughter.  Every day.  I love it more than anything.  Even if it were only for 5 minutes, those 5 minutes reading, just her and I, are better than years worth of my love for being a developer.


Posted Mon, Jun 20 2005 8:48 PM by Raymond Lewallen
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Comments

Belle wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Mon, Jun 20 2005 8:59 PM
That's one of the sweetest things I've ever read :)
Geoff Appleby wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Mon, Jun 20 2005 11:08 PM
Dude, you are so damn right.

Except for the teaching bit. :) I like posting examples and howtos on my blog, but actually presenting some training i'm not so hot on.

But yes. Every night before bed I read to my daughter too. She's getting close to 4 now, so we've moved on in the world - currently I'm reading every Enid Blyton book I can find to her, the wishing chair, the faraway tree, stuff I grew up with and loved. Last week we moved to a 'big girl book'. It's still the same as everything else we read, but only one picture in about 10 pages. She's slowly adjusting to it :)

When she was born, it was really hard for me to read to her. I wanted to read to her a lot and try and instill in her the love of books that I have. But i'd never read to anyone before, and it felt wierd - i'd feel sorta the same as if i'd just got up on stage in front of a big group of people. I was getting stage fright from a 6 month old.

Now it's no problems, and I look forward to it i'm sure as much as you do.
pvanooijen wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Mon, Jun 20 2005 11:37 PM
Very sweet... And life gets better after that. My eldest (boy) now reads by himself but my youngest still wants to be read to.. And as they get older they get intersted in computers, I am still wandering where we'll end up there. Will they stay with the games or will they eventuall do development stuff as well ? I'm not going to push that, but will encourage.:)
Geoff Appleby wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Mon, Jun 20 2005 11:47 PM
Yes, pushing is not allowed. but when I'm daydreaming, I just love the idea of calling my daughter for tech support :)
Sahil Malik wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Mon, Jun 20 2005 11:52 PM
I'm happy for you.

- Commander Data.
rsakalley wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 1:48 AM
sweet. makes me wish I had a daughter. Wait, should think about getting married first.
but very sweet. please tell your daughter that someone from India said hello.
Steve wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 6:12 AM
Agreed! There's nothing better!
Raymond Lewallen wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 6:44 AM
My daughter loves to type on the computer and smear her hands on the screen. Maybe she'll pick up the computer early. As far as being a developer and picking up on her dad's love for it, I doubt that will happen. I have no idea what is in store for her, but whatever it is, she'll make the most of it I'm sure.
Raymond Lewallen wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 6:46 AM
Peter, I'm not looking forward to my daugher wanting to read by herself every night. Sometimes, she'll sit in the floor and browse through her books, and thats fine. I like watching her do it, because she does it with such concentration. But that first night where she doesn't want to read before she's goes to bed, I'm fearing that.
Raymond Lewallen wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 7:12 AM
Someday, Ranjan and Sahil, you'll find something more fun than being a developer. Family and kids. Vacations. Story time. Bath time. Its those things that even out and balance your life between work and play and make life more enjoyable. I'm certainly one of the lucky ones to be able to get paid to do my hobby (programming) for a living, and then get to spend time with my wife and daughter too. Now if I could just find some time to brush up on my guitar and start playing at the blues bar too...
Leigh Kendall wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 9:42 AM
Brought tears to my eyes... couldn't agree more! Made me wish I was at home now with my 14month old now. We have another due in August and I hear the joy just keeps multiplying.

As much as I love work, there is nothing in life that is more important and satisfying than my family. Unfortunately, I don't think some realize this until they're taking their last breaths.
J Donnici wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 11:04 AM
Great post... I completely agree that that's the highlight of the day.

I read nightly to my 5 yr old and we're now at the stage of "chapter books" -- Willy Wonka, Stuart Little, etc. She loves the anticipation of the next night's chapters and I enjoy the pre-reading "So where did we leave off?" discussions with her.

She's reading some beginner books on her own, but thankfully still wants to read with Daddy each night.

Our newest is 7 days old, but she's now a part of our reading time also... to the Dad who said he'd felt self-conscious initially, I understand. Then I realized, it's not about the story. It's the quality time, her hearing your voice, making connections in her head, etc. Funny voices and being silly (eg. relating on their level) are always a hit.

Jeff
Raymond Lewallen wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 11:12 AM
Jeff, your newest 7 day old addition to your family and my daughter both have the same name :)

Congrats on a new daughter! May many more happy stories follow!
cthornton wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 11:43 AM
Sweet..isn't it funny how something so little as a 22 month old can melt something as big as a daddy's heart.
pvanooijen wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Tue, Jun 21 2005 1:34 PM
Raymond, don't fear the moment they want to read by themselves. It will bring new joys: talking about what they read. See your kids grow in every direction.

I'm working from home. Sometimes (just sometimes) they drive you up the ceiling but the best part of it is being part of the everyday life your kids grow up in.

I prefer spending my days in a family team over spending them in a software team. Visiting user group meetings and the like will keep me in touch.
DawlinLi wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Wed, Aug 24 2005 3:29 PM
damn I came here for some career advice, hehe

J/K
Raymond Lewallen wrote re: Reflecting back on the greatest job in the world
on Wed, Aug 24 2005 5:30 PM
DawlinLi, Spending time with your family is the best career advice I could give anybody. If you can't enjoy your family, you can't enjoy anything, which reflects on your work.
Phyo.net » Blog Archive » Home alone wrote Phyo.net » Blog Archive » Home alone
on Tue, Jun 27 2006 11:32 AM

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