Game Ball

Our weekends have been so busy this spring! My hesitation with ever having Blaine do baseball before was partly due to the time commitment. We had a game Friday night (which was finally called, after the boys played for 45 minutes in the rain), we had a game yesterday, and today we have the Spring Carnival and team photos. Add on top of that dance and piano for Aislin (which we have put on hold) and busy season for Brent, well we have been...yep, busy.

Lately it hasn't been easy getting Blaine to his practices or games. He complains that he doesn't want to go...which has been pretty typical of his past behaviors when involved in sports. It is really frustrating at the end of my day to have to deal with getting him ready when he doesn't want to get ready. By the end of the week I want to do nothing more than take a deep breath, relax and do nothing. Which is why Friday night is always the night that we eat out. I had a busy day at work yesterday, leaving me a nice headache and the cumulative effects of sitting all week left a nice backache. I knew it would be a rushed night to commute my 30 minutes home from work, get kids from school, let dogs out and feed kids and dogs, get Blaine ready for his baseball game and get back to the game- all within an hour! Talk about needing some ibuprofen. On top of that Brent was not going to be around. He has been working like crazy lately. Well, of course, from the moment I pick Blaine up from school he starts telling me that he doesn't want to go to the game, that Friday is his day to relax and that he is NOT going.

Letting him quit would be the easy option. When he was 3 and 4 and tried soccer and t-ball we quit both before the first games ever started. We are not letting him quit now. Now it is about making a commitment and learning lessons about character. Now he is old enough to understand why quitting is not right. I talked to him about all of this, I explained about the team having to forfeit if they didn't have enough players. I knew he didn't want to go, I know that right now baseball is hard for him. He complains that it is boring and that the balls never come to him in right field. I get that. But, quitting is not an option. I gave him some Diet Coke (horrible! I know!) and made him a cheese and turkey quesadilla. (They had to be there at 5:45. When were these kids supposed to eat dinner?) And finally, he got dressed.

We made it to the game with umbrellas in hand. It started sprinkling during warm ups and was full on raining when the game started. The team we played was good, really good, with a very intense coach. Right as the game stared one of our crucial players, our pitcher, left the dug out, headed to the woods and proceeded to vomit. Our team only has one extra. Thus all the other boys would now be playing the whole game, no rotations. Let me tell you, Blaine had some major action in right field! He didn't catch any fly balls, but he did get to two of the balls and made two beautiful, perfect throws into second base. I had no idea he could throw so far! His form looked great, he was focused and new exactly what he was doing. Then he had one time up to bat before the game was called due to lightening. He made it to first and then was able to run home after the hitters behind him went. It was his best game ever.

Yesterday he did better about getting ready for the game. It was an afternoon game, so he had the morning to enjoy hanging out with Ben before having to get ready for the game. Here we are headed to the game after a quick lunch at Wendy's:

The team we played yesterday was good too. Our team is the number one team, no losses...until yesterday. Blaine tried hard though. He didn't have any balls come to right field, but he had two good hits. His last hit got him on first, the other hit he struck out, and the first hit the pitcher got the ball and threw him out. At the end of the game the coaches talk with the boys about the highs and lows of the game and then pass out the game ball. Although I didn't think yesterday was his best game, the coaches wanted to acknowledge Blaine's efforts. The head coach began describing the child who was getting the ball as the most improved player, while he talked about how hard this player had worked the other boys stared calling out Blaine's name. They were right. Blaine got the game ball. He was SO happy. It made his day!

I took him and Aislin to Dunkin Donuts afterwards to celebrate....he took the game ball in with us. Ben called for a sleepover...he took the ball with him. I have not doubt that he will be taking the ball with him to school for show and tell. It made me so happy to see the coaches acknowledging his efforts. He needed this. I hope this gives him the boost he needs to finish the season well and keep working hard!