Losing Battles, Winning Wars

The kids played hard but lost another difficult game today. Their record is now 4-3-1.

Meanwhile, it was Back to School Night in San Francisco.



This school is officially the most diverse in San Francisco, a very diverse city. It is a school with a tough background, but one that over the past few years, has transformed itself into what is now the most requested high school in town.



Like every freshman parent, I was a bit disoriented about where to go, what to do, and what the place is really about.

But my initial impressions are extremely positive. My young athlete-scholar is doing well in his classes; his teachers seem to like him and think he is trying hard.

That's all I ever ask for -- trying hard. The results are another matter. You don't always get an "A" and you don't always get a "W."

But there soon will be another test or another game. And at his age, that is all that matters.

At my age, what matters is that I was here today, not across the country. If Woody Allen is right, and what matters most is showing up, I want to show up for my kids -- at games, at school, and anywhere else that matters to them.

It's the least a parent can do, and yet so many don't. They have their reasons -- jobs, business trips, other commitments.

I understand. It happens to me too. But the beauty of a second time around (two families separated by 13 years) is you get to choose the "show up" button a bit more frequently, because by my age, fewer people have a piece of you.

So, I pick up my kids at school, I sit in the stands at soccer games, I pick organic tomatoes in my garden for my one-year-old grandson, who inexplicably loves tomatoes.

Actually, he loves all food, and I'm convinced he will be a giant some day.

With my two grown daughters, one son-in-law (the other is at work in Kenya), three grandsons, and my three little children plus various friends, this flat is a hub of activity this month.

Good times...

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