School is back in session, and one of the first To Dos in 2nd grade was the obligatory “What did you do this summer?” assignment.
Sean writes: “Took swimming lessons”
And then the next question is, “Why did you do that?”
He writes: “Basic survival skill”
!!!!!!
The 0-fer is done. In the 8th game, Sean has his first hit of his first Little League season. He hit the ball solid, past the mound and out to shortstop. This being the lowest level of LL, there were bobbles and drops along the way a bit — but the bottom line is that Hit No. 1 is in the books.
He had done nothing more than foul tip a ball in the first 7 games, so you can imagine his surprise on hitting the ball fair. He stood still at the plate for the splittest of seconds, then went down to 1st base as fast as those legs could take him.
And when he got there safely, every parent in our bleachers was up yelling for him — Great job! Way to go! You did it! And down at first base, I saw him wind his arm back like he was about to throw a fastball, and follow-through with our 1st base coach on the most emphatic high-five I’ve ever seen.
It was just about enough to bring a Dad to tears……..
Little League baseball joining fee ………………………………… $85.00
Baseball gear and accessories at Gart Sports ……………….. $66.66
Baseball gear and accessories at Big 5 Sports ……………….. $12.42
Watching your son’s first-ever Little League game …… Priceless
Man, that was fun tonight. Sean’s team is maroon and gray, and he wears #4. My first little league was maroon, and I also wore #4. Sean’s team is sponsored by Hall’s Advanced Training Services; mine was sponsored by some funeral home!
Anyway, the kids had a lot of fun. I got to run the pitching machine, and I had a lot of fun. Sean did well in the field, not so well at the plate – but who cares!? It was a great night and there’ll be many more little league games to come over the next few years.
Priceless…….
There’s nothing like a carrot in front of the nose to get someone to do something.
We’ve been working with Sean for the past 6 months to teach him how to tie his shoes, but he’s never been able to pick it up. I’ve kinda thought the problem is partly motivation, as he’d much prefer to have Mom or Dad do it, anyway.
Finally last week, must’ve been Thursday or Friday, I told him we were gonna go 100% at it over the weekend and teach him how to tie his own shoes. But this time I offered a reward: I’d buy him “MVP Baseball 2005” for the Playstation as soon as he learned.
We started Saturday morning around 10 am. At 3:30 pm Sunday, we were in line at Circuit City, a copy of MVP Baseball ready to be bought.
Finally!
Sean was asked to finish this sentence in school last week. Here’s how he did it:
My wish for the world is… that the war could end.
My boy’s a compassionate conservative. 🙂
Sean’s only knowledge of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, at the age of 6, is that it’s a Playstation game Dad only plays after the kids are in bed.
This morning, as we were all in the kitchen area, I was mentioning that I was up way too late last night, but it was okay because I had finally completed a tough mission in Vice City. Cari jumped on that, sarcastically congratulating me for doing well at a game she dislikes, and asking me how many people I killed in completing the mission. I said “none” (which I later realized was incorrect), but my answer wasn’t quick, nor was it convincing.
So Sean asks, “Do you have to kill people in Vice City?” I told him that it’s a very violent game, and sometimes you do have to kill people as part of the game. (Mind you, he’s watched me kill people while playing SOCOM 2, though he understands that’s in the name of fighting the bad guys.)
So Sean hears me say this, takes it in for a moment, and with a fair share of disbelief says something like “So you’re playing a very violent game … and you’re such a nice guy!”
We ALL had a hearty laugh.
Kids……