In our elementary schools and team sports for younger kids there seems to be this foolish desire to make everyone a winner. But there are winners and losers. They had assemblies at my kids’ elementary schools, several times a year, in which eventually every kid won an achievement award. When I coached my young son’s coach-pitch baseball league, I was told at the end of the season to get trophies for everyone, including myself. Instead of enhancing self-esteem, the truth is this just diminishes any one child’s actual accomplishments. 
Tag Archives: little brother
Lessons of a Big Brother and Mentor (Revised)
(Please note that this is revised version of an older column, but one that holds a lot of value, in my opinion. I am still “matched” with both my “little brother” and mentor the young man with the genetic illness. I can say it’s not easy, either of these relationships, but I know it’s making a difference in their lives. It also costs me some money, but it’s my way of giving charity rather than writing a check to an organization)
One of the clichés about volunteerism is that “you get more than you give.” In my case, it was true in ways and means I least expected. I’ve just become a Big Brother and mentor, again, to a 7-year-old boy and a mentor to a 23-year-old young man. As these relationships are new, I don’t yet know what lessons I will learn. But I know well the lessons I learned the first time around.
I became a Big Brother long before I was married or a parent. My life, at that time, was pretty heady. In my early 30s, I had a successful showbiz career in which I was paid way too much for having so much fun. I lived in a lovely home in a chic part of town, had two cars, and no one to worry about other than myself.
Short Review of “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”
Much to my surprise and pleasure, I totally loved Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs when I saw it yesterday with my “little brother” (I’m a Big Brother and he is 7). We saw it in 3D and while those effects were good, it wasn’t a movie that screamed a need for 3D. It was that rare animated movie that was truly clever, without trying too hard. I was totally amused, laughing, and appreciative of the extraordinary quality of its graphics and very clever script.
