When Einstein Went Back To School

August 9, 2013
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By Jack Steiner

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English: Albert Einstein FranÃ§ais : Portrait d’Albert Einstein (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

â€œEverything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.â€Â â€•Â Albert Einstein

My kids go back to school on Monday, I installed a new theme on the blog and the air conditioning in my car isn’t working.

Did I mention the average temperature out here has been 109 which means inside my car we’re hosting the Jack Steiner sauna party, bring your own brick and towel.

In the midst of it all I am thinking aboutÂ What is The Most Important Thing In Blogging?Â and wondering if I am going to have to deal with a bullying situation at school.

Music Soothes The Savage Beast

Friday night is here and at a quarter after 8 I haven’t had dinner nor have I partaken of the Scotch on the counter or smoked the cigar that is calling my name.

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong are singing about Summertime and I am thinking about what I need to do and what I can do to help my kids.

In between it all I am staring at the new look of the blog and trying to figure out whether I followed Einstein’s advice on simplicity. I love the Google+ comments.

I see the engagement rising and the traffic is growing but it might be cannibalizing the comments that would normally come in via Livefyre and I haven’t decided if that is a significant issue for me right now.

Middle School Magic

The music has changed and Dylan is singing about Knockin On Heaven’s Door. It has me thinking about my grandfathers or more accurately missing them.

Been thinking about what sort of advice/counsel they would offer regarding certain situations now. Been wondering if the whispers I hear inside my head are them talking to me because I can hear them, can feel their presence.

That little guy of mine is getting bigger and I sense that things are rumbling inside his head. I feel some of the joy and anxiety of middle school radiating from him and I am doing my best to help him through it.

He isn’t sharing all of his thoughts with me and he doesn’t entirely believe Â that I know him as well as I do. Doesn’t believe that I understand what it is like to be in 7th grade any more than I believed my father when he tried to help me.

Grandpa was right about our not being able to screw an old head on young shoulders. I can’t stuff 44 years of my life experience into an almost 13 year-old body.

Can’t help a nine year-old girl see what she hasn’t lived through yet.

My heart breaks and it swells with pride. They will be fine but it hurts to know the hurt that they have to experience.

Relationships

Bob Seger sings about The Fire Inside and I feel an urge to howl at the moon and to just run. Feel the urge to just move under the starry night sky.

Relationships power sch0ol, they power the workplace and you better damn well believe they power social media. We grow older and technology grows more sophisticated but some things never change.

Your great-great grandfather and your great-great grandchild will both share the challenge to get along with others that we do. The world turns, burns and spins but relationships are always part of the fabric of life.

And I sit here at a desk in a room draped in darkness because I have been writing since before sunset thinking about what it is I need to do to make a better life for my children.

Been making progress, good progress and I see so many things to smile about but still I think about what it means to be far away. I think about why I made the move and I would do it again a thousand times because it was the right thing, the smart thing but it doesn’t mean that sometimes there are no questions.

Show me a parent who never second guesses their actions and I will show you a liar or a fool.