Ephipanies at the Bath Tub

Tonight, at the end of a very good but very full day, at the end of a very good but very full week, I was giving my three kids a bath.

Some nights bath time is full of joy and off-key singing: The Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, the ABC's, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, all the hits.

But tonight as I soaped the kids down I found myself miles away in my head. I was thinking about work. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking about--all kinds of things, probably. But I realized in the midst of bath time that I was completely checked out.

Davis just started kindergarten this week--his first day of school. We survived and he's still alive, five years later.

Zoe had her first soccer practice last week. She told us she was ready, we thought she'd end up picking daisy's in the outfield. Instead, she was totally dialed in, dribbled and shot like a champ, and outlasted and blew by all the boys on the team.

Emma Kate just turned two and is reciting books back to us. She'll be reading War and Peace to me by Christmas.

Five, three, and two. Davis, Zoe, and Emma Kate. This only happens once.

I love my work. And I believe it matters. I wouldn't be doing fourteen years later (that's fourteen years of fund raising) if I didn't believe in and love what I do.

But my kids matter more--not to mention my wife, who deserves my fullest attentions and affections. I'll forget by tomorrow what I was thinking about tonight while the kids were in the tub. These little ones, they'll still be here. I want to be fully present to the people in my life who matter the most.

So I'm looking forward to unplugging for a couple days over the weekend and enjoying my wife and kids. Tomorrow's the first day of soccer games for both Davis and Zoe this fall--I'm coaching or assistant coaching for both their teams.

I can't wait to watch Zoe blow by those boys.