Today is a big day for the O’Brien Family. Today is Steve Jobs Day.

To celebrate the grown ups are getting new iPhones and the kids are getting the old ones (minus SIM cards).

I had an interesting conversation with Aidan about Steve Jobs the week he passed away. We had just finished reading the Magic Tree House book Monday with a Mad Genius about Leonardo da Vinci. He asked if there was anyone like da Vinci alive now. Steve Jobs was the first to come to mind. In an eerie sort of coincidence he passed away later that week.

We talked about how Apple’s inventions helped so many people through communicating and staying connected. He got it having used my MAC to talk to Maureen in Canada through two Masters Degrees and chat with me during last year’s conference trips to New Orleans and Chicago. We also talked about people who have trouble communicating and the use of the iPad for people recovering from strokes- a personal experience for our family in this last year. He even connected the use in classrooms with children who cannot verbalize or do not yet understand English.

The idea of “think different” also resonated with him. It is a very Montessori concept and a very 21st century skills concept. How cool for Aidan and Brendan to be alive to know who Jobs was. And they did. The iPad launch and the uniform of Steve Jobs were recognizable for Aidan.

Our kids do not know a world without digital music and pictures, laptops or iPhones. The idea of no Internet, no home computers and no connection other than a landline telephone is pre-historic to them. Their lives are marked by the digital age.

So happy Steve Jobs Day. Here’s to more “crazy ones.” Tribute

Almost all of this blog is following the adventures of the O’Brien Family. But having this forum, I feel I need to express my own opinions- as they relate to our family- about the Red Sox demise in September.

Both Bob Hohler's article andDan Shaughnessy's column reference the August double header that seemed to signal the beginning of the end of this tumultuous season.

Here is another perspective of that weekend.

Aidan is 6. He was born in March of 2005. His first Red Sox season began at one month old watching the hometown team get their rings. He has never known anything but the World Champion Boston Red Sox. He has grown up with Varitek, Ortiz, Youk and Pedrioda shirts. For Brendan’s first Halloween he suggested Wally the Green Monster. Brendan was born in June 2007, another great point in Sox history. At three years old Aidan tried teaching his little brother the words to Sweet Caroline because he was told it was a “Red Sox song”. We caught it on video and under the encouragement of friends sent to it America’s Funniest Videos. It became a finalist and our family was flown to California. We spent three days explaining why Sweet Caroline in LaLa land. We got second place. (See here)

But back to this summer. My soon to be first grader heard about our local Boston Public Library’s Read Your Way to Fenway contest. Children who read and recorded their summer reading books were entered to win tickets to a Sox game. He got the news in early August he won two tickets. He would be going to his first Sox game at Fenway- Sunday, August 28th.

Of course Hurricane Irene had other plans for that weekend and with the game being moved it meant a later start. The earlier game’s delay sealed our fate that he would not be able to go for fear of how late it would get and safety with the storm coming. The excitement of a storm provided a distraction and we promised him another trip Fenway in lieu of the missed opportunity.

But many, many of the children who won the same contest made the trip to the Dunkin Dugout. It was the chance to reward a lot of children for what the Sox say they value- hard work and reaching goals. Ticket prices have skyrocketed and for a lot of families it has become a luxury to make the trip. To be able to go and have your child honored was appreciated by many families.

To hear now the Sox didn’t want to play that game stings. It stings because of the kids who were not thought of who won a Red Sox contest. It stings because of the families who were able, in the midst of a once in a life time storm, to get their children to Fenway to enjoy something that is slipping out of reach for many families. To hear that they were compensated with expensive electronics and a fancy party for doing their job is outrageous.

September was disappointing, and yes it is just a game. It’s just a little bit more disappointing knowing it was “that” game. My hope- as a fan and a parent- is that what the Red Sox brought to this city in terms of pride, hard work and giving back in the past, will be remembered in the choices that all make this off season and moving into the future.