To be quite honest, I do not think that my kids care if I attend their sports games or not, because when I was a child I did not think care if my parents attended mine or not. I attended for the exercise and involvement and the structure that motivated me to exercise. I think that too many parents care more about about their kids' athletic performance than the kids do themselves. I love my kids and I care about their academics and fitness and wellness, but I just do not attend their games, for work or other reasons. I pick up and drop them off and attend concerts because they are academic and fewer, and may attend an occasional championship. I actually asked my kids whether or not they want me to attend. However, I thought that neutrally asking them might cause them to say yes if they did not mean out of fear of hurting my feelings and not knowing what I was asking (I used to pretend to care about stuff my parents did and say yes when I did not care), so while it seems biased, I told them that I will not be hurt if they do not care if I attend, and I just care that they are happy and do well, and while this may have skewed it, they said no.

However, my wife, my wife's friends, and my parents are denying that that is the case, and believe that anyhow, part of being a parent is watching your kids' games even if the kids themselves do not care, but I disagree because I have different values and priorities. AITA?