Ready, set, go!

So.  Summer has officially started, and we're home.  Together.  Don't get me wrong, Coach is at work, but the kids and I are here.  I always start summer off with a mix of joy and dread, because, well, who knows what's coming?  So far, the kiddos are keeping pretty busy, T has friends now that he can go and hang out with, and with them separated, it's better.  We had one friend over to go swimming, and each kid brought someone, so that worked out well.  T has been skateboarding and has had an overnight, and Alex is actually playing with friends too.  He's even talked about signing up for 'fit for fun' at the Y...which for my boy who doesn't like me to leave him anywhere, is a miracle!  I'm waiting until after the fourth, because we are cmping and spending time at the canal, so he'd miss a lot, but I have hope that he will actually go somewhere and do something that doesn't involve me supervising the neighborhood all summer!  I like having kids over...I do.  I just don't always like supplying all of the entertainment and food when I know that everyone else has perfectly good moms who are sitting in the house reading books and sunbathing while their kids are fed/supervised over here for free.  Alex chooses to have friends over, which is fine, but I also told him that he is going to have to branch out and go to their houses too!  I think we're all kind of easing into the routine of being together and not having a set plan pretty well.  I also realized the other day that since we are now in a rec league, with less games, I NEVER post about baseball!  Here's a rundown:

Alex just finished his one team, with Coach, and the party was last weekend.  It was a blast-the kids had so much fun.  The coaches and I planned a bbq at a local park, with games, food, prizes, and water balloons, so how could they help but have fun?  I saw so many teams that just did trophies after their last game, at the field, with no party.  What fun is that?!  He still has one more game with his 'other' team, which is the one with 20 kids and the one he's having trouble dealing with.  I don't know if he will go, and frankly, it's not a big deal to me.  He wanted to play with these kids because he played soccer with them for four years, but we were told that the coaches were going to limit the size of the team, and they didn't.  They said that the park dist. kept giving them kids that requested to be on the team, but when I complained to the park district, they said that they tried to talk these coaches out of having such a big team, and they insisted on keeping that many kids.  I keep coming back, even though soccer was the same way.  Why?  I guess because he likes the kids and wants to be with them, but at the same time, he's frustrated with being able to bat only once, and play one inning at first base before the game is over, due to the size of the team.  I have received a credit from the parks dist. so he can play a sport for free next time.

T's team is okay.  That's how I feel right now.  Rec ball is a whole different animal, even in the competitive division, and we're finding that we don't like it much.  The parks dist. is very unorganized, and sometimes we end up starting late because of no umps, or teams don't show up because they had a schedule change and both teams weren't informed, etc.  Parents are flaking left and right because their kids had school concerts, birthday parties, and sudden spur of the moment trips to wherever, and we only have nine kids a lot of the time, and sometimes I even have to call 10 min. before the game starts to see if they are coming or not so we'll have enough!  With PONY, they pay more, so the parents tend to get their kids there no matter what, and we don't have these problems.  They are also normally families that are more into baseball, so they understand the commitment.  These are kids that don't necessarily plan on sticking with baseball, and it's obvious that their parents, for the most part, are not as committed.  We probably will go back to our old league next year, if they reinstate the Pinto division-which would be the division that Alex would play in.  I hope so!  On the other hand, I am seeing so much growth where T is concerned, with baseball.  He really 'gets' his position (second base), and has the sense to cover areas that he's supposed to cover, hit his mitt to get the pitcher to pick off kids that are leading off, and catch line drives, fly balls, etc.  His hitting has really taken off too, and it's wonderful to see...even with that huge -3 bat, he's able to get it around and crank balls out there.  He never stands and waits for a walk like he sometimes used to do.  All in all, it's kind of a meh year, and I know next year will be better. 

Comments

[Aunt Becky]

Dude. How grown up does he look?

[Tanya]

I have been so happy with the Pony Leauge. I agree that the parents seem to take the commitment a lot more seriously then in the Rec leauge. Especially travel pony.
Love the picture.