Baseball Anyone?

Age definitely brings perspective. I used to really complain about some of the stuff I couldn't do as a child or things my mom made us do. For instance, my younger sister & I (oh, I'm #4 out of five kids by-the-way) used to have to go to bed by 6pm during the week & 7pm on the weekends. This was when we were 10 & under. I could never understand why & then I had kids. While mine do not go to bed quite so early, they are in bed by 8pm every single night. Why? Because I'm tired - which is the same reason my mom used to give me.

So what does this have to do with baseball?

As I mentioned I'm one of the younger ones in my family. I have three older siblings (two brothers & another sister). There is a four year gap between me & my next oldest sibling. To this day I will still hear him complain about what we were able to do (the two little girls) versus what he & the other two were allowed to do. It drives me bonkers.

Again, what does this have to do with baseball?

My older siblings were allowed to play one sport & one sport only. Their extracurricular activities were severely limited. My younger sister & I didn't have the same limits. I was involved in a lot of stuff by the time I was in high school. I played basketball. I tried field hockey but got injured so I managed it for two years instead. I played in the concert band & pep band (which meant I played at every basketball game I wasn't actually playing in). I sang in the chorus. I was on a lot of committees & did a lot of other stuff.

So what does this have to do with baseball???

Everything.

I signed up all three of my boys this year to play in the rec baseball program. I didn't realize what that would entail. Now I totally understand why my mom had to limit stuff with five kids under one roof needing to go in all kinds of different directions.

B is playing with the next town over baseball team since there aren't enough boys his age who want to play in our town. After all the population of our town is only about 800. His practices are 1-1/2 hours long. There is seemingly no set schedule as of yet. The coach just tells the boys when the next practice is & we try to make it. In fact, he called us on Saturday afternoon to find out if we could attend practice Sunday afternoon at 1pm. We were there but it was a long day as we went directly after church.

N is playing on the 6-8 year old team in our town. It's actually made up of three towns. They have about 12 kids on his team. It's co-ed but it's mostly little boys. Practices are fun to watch. There's a lot of sky gazing going on rather than baseball playing. Thankfully he has a set schedule. Every single Tuesday & Thursday from 5:30-6:30. However, so far B has had practice from 4-5:30....on Thursday...in a town 20 minute away. Now I understand why my parents did what they did!

Thankfully my MIL was able to help me out on this particular conflicting day. She came & stayed to watch the last half hour of B's practice and even took J home with her as I ran N over to our town to have his practice. Phew!

Another conflict has thankfully been diverted when both B & N were scheduled for practice later in the week. However, on Sunday, B's coach moved their practice to Wednesday.

And then there is little J. He is getting ready to play T-ball. It starts next week. Originally I was told it would be at the same time as the 6-8 year olds so that they could all be there at the same time. That was before we realized that N's team (the 6-8 year olds) would also be having games at that time - some of them are away games. That would mean a big conflict for those of us who have children playing on both teams. So J gets practice on Wednesday nights. Phew!

I'm not totally regretting allowing them all to play this year, but I may have to rethink this if they chose to continue.

However, the boys are having a great time. Even B. Why do I say that? My guys have never played baseball. They can barely catch or throw. But they are having a fabulous time & for me, that makes it all worth it.