Batter Up!

We signed Nick up for T-ball.

I was the only kid in our family who did not play little league. Not because my parents were mean or loved me less, but because I had absolutely no interest in it whatsoever.

But with Nick, it's different. For one thing, he's younger than any of my siblings were when they played. He's just five. That's why this is T-ball instead of baseball, and why they hit off a T instead of pitching.

Also, each of my brothers and sisters had some previous experience with baseball before jumping in to play. I mean, they knew the basics of the game, and could pretty much throw and catch a ball.

Nick, poor little Nick, had just me and Steve to teach him. I was unable to teach the boys how to throw and catch a beach ball. Baseballs or even those wiffly balls never even made it into the equation. And batting... well, the boys use their bats as swords. So most of the time I'm taking them away, not showing them how to put their weight into a swing.

So... here we are. Nick now goes to T-ball practice about eight times a week. He loves it, and he's doing a good job learning. He loves batting, and so far he knows which hand his glove goes on, although today he did turn it the wrong way trying to catch the ball. The kids out there are really cute, and the coaches are really patient. I'm glad we got to sign Nick up, and I think he is, too.

But it has taken over our lives. The practices are every other day, but it feels as though we are always there. I can't get Nick's team shirt laundered in time for his next practice. And the timing... they take place after work, obviously, at the time of day we used to call "Dinner Time." During the weekends the practices are conveniently at "Lunch Time" or "Nap Time" and the whole day feels as though each event were put in a shaker and them poured out onto the table in a random order.

I know this is just the dawn of an era, and that each activity from now on will push back bedtime and supper time and any time I Steve and I have to ourselves at the end of the day. But I suppose that's part of the game, isn't it? Batter Up!