That being said.....................
T-ball.
Oh T-ball.
Why couldn't you have been as fun as you sounded?
I'll start in March. I had tickets to go to a women's convention, so Rob had the Rylan one Saturday morning. I had seen signs around town for T-ball sign ups and asked Rob if he would take the boys to sign up. Sure. He says. No problem. He says.
If it had only been no problem.
Rob and I both grew up in Mtn. Home. So, we both grew up in the same baseball/softball/tball league. In our day, we played t-ball well into elementary school. I know for a fact I played t-ball the summer after my second grade year, so age 8. He goes to sign Rylan up and is told that t-ball is only for 3 and 4 year olds. And its not really t-ball. Its coach pitch. And if they miss 3 coach pitched balls, they get one try off the tee. 5 year olds, like our little tyke, play MACHINE PITCH. And Rylan needs to TRY OUT. At this point, we should have made the executive decision to run like the unknowing parents that we are and never step foot on a baseball field in Saline County again.
Except we didn't.
Via text, Rob and I decide to go ahead and sign Max up for "t-ball" since OMG Rylan's already behind, we can't be THOSE parents that have two sons that are behind. And we also sign Rylan up and Rob takes both kids to a tryout. Rylan has never stepped foot on a baseball field. He had never held a glove. Things went, well like you'd expect them to go. He gets put on a team and we go to the first practice and we feel.......totally out of our element. Everyone knows each other because THEY HAVE ALREADY PLAYED "T-BALL" FOR 2 YEARS FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY!!!!! Our poor kid doesn't even know what a base is or what hand to throw with and they are fielding him balls and telling him "throw it to first."
Max's situation was better. New team. All little kids. Ready to have fun. I mean, by fun, I mean "fun" because ten 3-4 year old throwing balls and waving bats is crazy. We did 2-3 practices per team and were still feeling......uneasy.
We heard that Sardis, the small town where the kids go to school and we go to church, had baseball as well. In fact, the field is next to our church. We heard that 5 year olds get to play Coach Pitch, or "t-ball" in Sardis. And, since its 3-5 the kids could be on the same team. I call and am told they can both play in Sardis but that, since we are late coming, the boys couldn't be on the same team or whatever team they were on would have way too many players. After much deliberation, we decided to leave our town and join Sardis.
Rylan became a Sardis Rascal, Max became a Sardis Bulldog. And they both ended up playing left field, same position. Same attention span.
Its been crazy.
I'll start with the "holy moly, what were we thinking?"
There has been four times that the kids have played each other. We don't know who is playing, who is batting, where to stand, who to cheer for or what to do with our hands.
Max's coach's are entirely too serious about the game and often forget they are 3-5 year olds, not Babe Ruths. There has been too much yelling and stomping and just plain immature behavior. By the coaches, not children. I wish we could have had both boys on Rylan's team.
We've had to call DHS about a mother.
We've worked a collective 10 hours in the concession stands pushing a button to get cheese and chili out of machines.
Max has made approximately 75 dirt angels on the field.
Max has done approximately 75 yoga poses in the field.
Max has gotten in trouble for digging in his pants during a game.
Max has pulled his pants down and peed on the field during practice.
Rylan doesn't understand cheering and so if someone yells "go Rylan" he gets ticked and yells back "I AM!!!!"
We've eaten more corndogs, hot dogs, cheese fries and snow cones than should be legal at this point.
Rylan is always at school on game days and a lot of the time so is Max. Their school is next to the ball park, but 20 minutes from home. So, on game days, I bring dinner to their school, pick them up, they eat in the car on the tiny drive to the ball park. Then they change clothes in the car and we go straight to playing two games. Rob and I have taken to eating whatever I bring in the stands. Taco salad in Tupperware? Sure, don't stare at me!!!! I'm sick of cheese pumped out of a machine.
Now for the positives:
Its been wonderful to see Rylan blossom the way he has. He has a very positive coach and a very understanding coach that has taken time to help Rylan understand the game. He hit a ball during a game and made a run and it was instantaneous how quickly he started loving the game.
When Max chooses to pay attention to the game, he rocks that shit out! He's a natural and, if he chooses to play, and we NEVER have to be on the same team again, I think he will play the crap out of baseball. He has hit the ball off a coach pitch several times. He just gets a little lost when running bases, and gets super sidetracked in the field.
Rob and I have seriously been homebodies in our marriage. We like coming home and doing nothing. But, things needed to change. In my previous post, I mentioned that we are in uncharted territory and this was part of it. I am not sporty, I have not ever dealt with "sports parents" or the feeling of defeat when something doesn't work out the way you thought it would as a mother quite like tball. There was one practice where Max's coaches were so negative, so degrading and kept them at a really hot practice for so long that I cried the whole way home to my Mommy on the phone. Rob and I have really learned from these experiences. A lot about working through hard times TOGETHER, not quitting when the going gets tough, and most of all, sticking up for our kids and being their advocate. That is why this went in the positive list.
We have two games left. I hope they are good ones. I feel I've grown as a sports mom. At the beginning of the season, I kid you not, when my kids were up to bat, I stood up and when/if they hit the ball, I'd run in place trying to get them to first base faster. It was ridicudonkulous. I have calmed down. I sit at the top of the stands, where it would be unsafe to run and I have used the coach's negtivity to realize how positive I need to be. So what if Max poured half of the dirt from the field into his shirt? Did he have fun?
Because that is what is most important.
Dear coaches: smile once in a while. There's a ton of cute kids in front of you!!!!!
First practice. Before he peed on the field.
First game. Against each other.
Rylan batting
Rylan's coach took their team to a professional baseball game at Travelers Stadium. That was really awesome.
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This is what I love to see. The coach cheering my kid on, my cute kid doing what he's told all is well.
