tee time for big h

but not golf, baseball. or more accurately, tee-ball.

that's right, today was big h's first practice, of his first organized sport, which is his first extra-curricular activity. i don't know who was more excited, mom and dad, or him. ok, that's a lie. i do know that we were much more excited than he was!

if you couldn't guess from my previous post, i'm not the athletic type. i'm the artsy type that the athletic type like to harass. well, that stops here. no, i don't mean i want my boy to be the athletic type. but i do want him to be more well-rounded than i was. instead of living vicariously through him, i get to learn all the sports stuff with him. 20+ years too late.

not that i didn't have the chances. i did tee-ball and soccer when i was a boy. i just wasn't all that good at them, so i didn't have too much fun, so i quit. i limit myself to sand volleyball, and mountain biking. (not that i'm great at these, but i am good enough to enjoy myself).

big h, on the other hand, doesn't quit. he will work at it until he is good. like the first time we put him on ice skates, and after a little frustration, he had to go all the way around the olympic oval! like the first time he went roller skating. we ended up buying him roller blades, and he practiced until he's comfortable.
his school had a skate party, and this time, on his blades instead of the rental skates, he had a great time at the rink. probably skating as well as me. he's still young enough that you absorb like a sponge, and learn fast. plus he's determined enough to try and practice and work at it. he knows that with a little practice, he'll be able to hit, throw, and catch as well as anyone on his team.

anyway, we have now reached a new level. we have begun a new phase. he now has another sphere beyond our family, beyond his sunday school class, and beyond his kindergarten class. in one short practice, i watched him grow. i watched him put aside his shyness and thank his coach. i watched him get hit by the ball as he tried to catch the ball. even after the one that made him cry, (hit him right in the throat) he was getting better at tracking the ball. (not shying away from it as i always did). i watched him try new things, right in front of strangers. if you know our sensitive, shy boy, who has a difficult time adapting to change, you know what a huge step it is for him.

but that really is the point of kids sports, isn't it? it's not about winning, or seeing which parents can curse the loudest, or beat-up the other parents. (i'm not talking about any of the parents here, just the nut jobs you see on the news who follow the coach to his car and beat him up because he didn't leave their kid in the game long enough, or who are beating up other parents because they were cheering for the other team. we'll see if what happens at the first game in a couple of weeks). it really is about making new friends, having fun playing a game, and building self-esteem by learning new skills, and developing them. it's about having a good excuse to play catch with my son. it's about having a new set of reasons to spend time with, give attention to, and praise, and teach my son. i hope i can remember all this, and take advantage of the opportunities it provides me to enjoy my boy, and grow closer to him. that's what it truly is about.