Baseball

Even though you've been able to see your breath at most games so far, and all the fans are wrapped in wool blankets, the season is off to a fun start!  Eli is terrific, he really loves it.  John was asked to be assistant coach this year, since he did such a great job with soccer last fall and is a major sports nut, playing soccer and baseball since birth it seems.  His radio is tuned to the Red Sox 24/7.  And of course, the kids love Mike who doesn't play favorites, knows what he's talking about, has a sense of humor when someone runs to the outfield without their glove, and treats the kids like his own.  My cousin Shane's daughter, Taylor, is the only girl on the team, such a sweetie, only eight but fits into my cleats which I loaned her for the season.  I'm pretty happy the schedule is set up a bit differently than last year and I can actually see more of the games.  Last year they often fell on my work nights and I was heartbroken to miss out.  (I've also recently trained up a sub so I can take time off when I need to, which has been the best thing ever!)  Ira HATED playing t-ball last year, I had to force him to go after the first couple of practices...I kept hoping he'd start to like it and I didn't want him get into the habit of quitting things without a fair chance.  Luckily the t-ball season was super short and over quickly because he was miserable.  When I asked him if he wanted to play this year, he said no, and I'm certainly not going to push him.  My boys are very different and Ira has many other gifts.  He loves soccer and riding, but generally, sports are not his "thing" which is most definitely OK by me.  He's my actor/comic/artist/animal nut.  Where Eli is very focused on competitive, structured things, Ira is more of a free form guy.  It was a bit of a relief to know I didn't have to juggle both game/practice schedules this spring.  We're already so busy that it's hard to cram one more thing in as it is!  Anyhow, another week of baseball coming up...late dinners, trying to scrub grass-stains out of pants, relocating lost gear every five minutes and shivering on the bleachers!  Play ball!