Cubs Game and Starting High School

We had one last summer outing this week as we went to our first Cubs game at Wrigley Field as a family.

It took a while to get over the jet lag after returning from Japan, but we were in good spirits on this afternoon. Kai's constant anxiety with getting sick has finally ended. He did get a very minor cold - certainly nothing worth all the stress he had - and it didn't stop him from enjoying the free time he had the past week and a half.

The first thing we did when we got home from Japan was to schedule appointments with a doctor and a therapist to discuss his anxiety. His medication was increased and there was a lot of discussion with him over all the stress he had (and caused). Not sure how much all of that had to do with his calming down versus just being home and back in his comfortable surroundings, but we're all feeling better now.

Kai and I went to a Cubs game last fall, but that was in Milwaukee when the Cubs played the Brewers. I wanted to take everyone to see a game at Wrigley, and had bought tickets way back in February.

In the days leading up to the ballgame, it looked like it might rain on game day, but we lucked out as there was no rain all day. It was actually a very nice day. At one point when the sun came out, Kai started to complain about it being too hot and said that it was like being back in Japan. We told him that this was nothing like Japan as the temperature was more than 20 degrees cooler.

The other thing that was very different than Japan is that the food selection at the ballpark was all non-healthy, traditional ballpark fare. We all had footlong Chicago hot dogs. I enjoyed it but my wife said later that she felt ill from eating it.

But the ball game was great. The Cubs scored a lot and won 8-4 over their rival Brewers. Kai was very happy!

He said it was the best baseball game he's ever been to. I don't know about that as we have been to several really entertaining games, but I was glad that he had fun, as did we all.

The other big event this week was that Kai started high school. He went for about on hour on Tuesday for Freshman Prep Day, getting his id photo taken, buying his gym shirt and shorts, and doing other administrative things. And then he had his first day of classes on Friday. Actually it was only a half day, and there wasn't much teaching or studying, but he was in the classroom.

So it was an easy day, and happily there were no incidences.

We have told Kai that this is a fresh start for him, and a great opportunity for him to make a good first impression so he should be friendly to other students and to staff. It frustrates me that he doesn't seem to understand.

But anyway, we're off! So far so good, but we'll keep our seatbelts fastened as turbulence can arise without notice. :)

Father-and-Son Outing: First Cubs Game

I am a huge baseball fan, and a Cubs fan in particular, but I have not gone to a Cubs game with Kai. Until now.

I rarely watch sports on tv anymore, but whenever I do, Kai shows no interest in watching games with me. He is just not a sports fan, and while I would have liked if he shared one of my strong interests, I have come to accept that we are just different, and that's okay.

But it's not just that he has little interest in baseball. Going to Wrigley Field is bit of a hassle having to come in from the suburbs and park a mile or two away. (It was much easier when I was single and lived in the city.) Tickets are hard to come by, not to mention being expensive. Would it be worth it when Kai's behavior could be unpredictable? I still recall when we went to spend an afternoon of watching horse racing at Arlington Park and had to leave after the first race because Kai had had enough.

But the Cubs have been playing well in the second half of this season, and there was a big series against the second place Milwaukee Brewers. The weather was unusually summer-like, and I found out that there were still tickets available for the games to be played in Milwaukee, which is less than an hour and a half from our house in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

We had dogs this weekend and my wife could not leave them for the afternoon, so I asked Kai if he wanted to go to the game with just me. We do most of our outings as a threesome, and Kai loves to have Mom present for everything, so I was a bit surprised when he said that he wanted to go.

So we drove up to Miller Park on a hot Sunday afternoon.

We got to our seats just as the game was starting. It was steaming hot and Kai told me he was distracted from paying attention to the game because it was too hot.

But we sat for a while and got less hot, and then got some big cold drinks and tacos to eat. Sorry, no pictures of the food as the tacos were tasty but very messy to eat.

Anyway, after that, Kai settled in nicely and enjoyed the game.

It was a low scoring game and the most excitement through six innings might have been the traditional sausage race, won this time by Chorizo.

But we had excitement in the 7th inning when Ben Zobrist of the Cubs hit a home run that put the Cubs ahead 3-0. Kai was thrilled!

During the 7th inning stretch, I had him respectfully remove his cap for the singing of God Bless America.

I don't know that Kai completely followed all the little nuances that baseball fans love about the game, but he had fun. He loved looking at the electronic scoreboard that showed fans dancing between innings, and cheered when the Cubs did something well. There is something about a live sporting event that is much more exciting than watching on television. And so, just like the baseball games we saw in Japan in Hiroshima and Yokohama, and the one at Fenway Park two summers ago, Kai had a great time.

When the final out was made, and the Cubs had won 5-0, Kai gave a big cheer and flashed two thumbs up as I took his picture.

That evening, at bedtime, I told him that I was very happy that he went to the game with me and that I had a lot of fun with him. Unprompted, he thanked me for taking him and said he had fun, too. More than Zobrist's home run, or Jose Quintana's shutout, that was the biggest highlight of my day.