Shark Boy's First T-Ball Practice

Wow, what a day. Last night, Shark Boy and I were up together with sore throats. His made him scream in pain, and mine was bad enough that I understood his feelings. This morning I called for Dr's appts for us. We finally go in and get told it doesn't look like strep, just some random virus...oh wait, you've had this coming for a week, oh, then yes, Mom, you get antibiotics, but 4 y/o, no, no drugs for you. Ear Infections clear up on their own in 4 y/o's. Ok, I agree that antibiotics are probably over prescribed in the US. I'm with you there, but if we most likely have the same germs (we do live together day in and day out), how can I, the healthy adult with a fully formed immune system need drugs and he doesn't? I don't get it....  I pushed my "Trust the Docs" button and went to buy our drugs. Purple Triaminic for the boy.

Oh wait, before I get distracted by the Triaminic story, this post is supposedly about T-Ball. So, we go from the pharmacy to a restaurant for dinner, then from the restaurant, we drive down the road and find a dog skittering in traffic on the town's main street. Always the softie, and having some time to kill, I pull over, open the door, and the pup come barreling over to say hi. It appears to be a Pitbull mix. But he's friendly and all pup, and soft, and clean, and cute, and fuzzy, and ooh, so wiggly, but calm. Wiggly and calm? yes. that combo exists.

Hmm, what to do now? T-Ball 45 minutes off, don't know non-emergency 911 number/dog catcher, phone internet not working, phone won't dial anyway it turns out, so can't call a friend to get the number.

Ok, fine, Dog, jump in the car. Yes, sure  you can ride in the front seat. It looks like you're used to it.  My own dog never has, but sure, you're fuzzy. Go right ahead, I don't really trust you with my kids anyway, after all, we JUST MET!


Driving to police station (Town dog pound isn't manned, and I don't have time to deal with this dog, after all, there's T-BALL tonight--but I didn't want him to get squished in the steady traffic on that street) 

I park across the street from the police station door, consider unloading 3 kids to walk the dog 20 feet to the door, decide to leave kids, take dog. put dog inside outer door, but not INSIDE the station. wait patiently for dispatcher to notice me. point to dog. say stray, traffic, blah blah blah, she gets my info (why?) and goes to get "one of the guys." He comes out. It's the 1 cop in town that I know (his wifeand kids are awesome, but I've never really gotten to actually know him). He meets the dog, says "wait here, I'll get my car and bring it around front. ...he walks out side door.

now, if you know the layout of this town's police station, he went out a door that might have saved him about 25 steps (he's a tall guy) from walking out the door I was at. and the cop cars aren't in some high-security fenced-in lot. It's just an open lot. Why couldn't I follow him to his car, out one of the doors and around the corner? no idea. no idea. So, it's a beautiful day. I take dog back outside, to keep a better eye on the still-running minivan full of kids. We sit. We wait. Time is ticking.  Hmm, maybe he got called out on a real police matter. Maybe the one-way streets are complicating him driving to the front of the building from the side. Give it time. nothing. Hmm, what to do now. Well, Shark Baby is crying, and hungry. Lets take dog to van, get baby, sit in open van door feeding baby. Uh oh, NIP in Nebraska, outside a police station. ugh. good thing the cops were too busy to take a dog, so they definitely were too busy to notice or harass a nursing mother. (right to Nurse In Public is not protected in 3 states, NE is one of them). Finally a Sherriff's car drives up (they share a building), and I try to get him to take the dog. He says the cop is out on a call. Ok, what are you doing? going inside to do paperwork? Wouldn't you rather play with a puppy?  Ok, then I'll go home, get a leash, and take him to T-ball. Thanks for letting the dispatcher lady know. And off I go.

Practice was supposed to be starting at 6. We got there about 5:45.  Shark Boy fell asleep on the way there of course. I go unbuckle him and he slithers onto the floor of the van, still 3/4 asleep, mumbling something about how we are at the soccer fields so there's no T-Ball here.

He's right. They play soccer here. But then soccer ends and baseball starts...  He's not getting it. He's sick. He's got a fever, and ear infection, and what looks like an eye infection. But remember, he's not on antibiotics, so I'm not totally crazy to take him out to play, but OK, how about you come up here and watch them play T-Ball in the front seat with me (and Lava Girl and the Dog). He takes the drivers' seat and proceeds to rearrange all buttons, play with steering wheel, not watch a lick of practice. Hey, what? Why are they even practicing? It's only 10-till!  Stay here (kids and stray dog) in the van, I'll go tell coaches you aren't coming. Coach doesn't seem to care, but after all, practice has started (10 minutes early). *note to self, be 20 minutes early to practices.*

I give up. We go home. We pull in the drive way, and the 4 y/o says that he wants to go to T-ball. Ok, lets go. He seems awake now. We drive back. Thank GOD this is a small town, so it's only like, a 2-minute drive each way). By now it's about 6:10, they are now actually hitting the ball and sort of playing a game of T-ball, people in the outfield and all. We go over. Shark Boy sees his favorite friend in the whole wide world and runs onto the field to see him. Then runs a big circle around the pitcher's mound, then back to his friend. I tell him to stick to his friend, and Lava Girl and Shark Baby and I go join Favorite Friend's family in the bleachers. Oh, Man, my kid is wearing CROCS!! To T-Ball practice. Awesome, this B.S. degree in Parks and Recreation is really paying off.

He does a great job of sticking to Favorite Friend, even when Favorite Friend is batting. Hello, safety violation? There was so much funny stuff going on. Tyler was definitely the most distracted, and probably the youngest. He's been 4 for four days. We haven't even had Birthday Cake yet. He still thinks he's 3.

I know this is all to be expected.

He spent some time off the field, playing with 2 y/o's in the rocks and dirt, went back out and stuck to Favorite Friend some more, batted some, made it to 3rd base and was batted to home, but never made it to home, since he ran from 3rd to Pitcher's mound. and around and around and zig zag. He was last batter of the night, so everyone cheered extra loud after he hit. It was really cool. I think he needed that. He was expecting it to be really hard, and was hesitant to even go, but wound up enjoying it.

Thank you T-Ball coaches, assistants, and fellow parents on the bleachers for helping me laugh and enjoy this experience. The patience and love flowing out of each volunteer coach was so real you could almost see it.

I couldn't find my phone when I was getting out of the car, so no pics of this milestone in my son's life, Crocs and all. So, this blog post will have to get scrapbooked eventually. After practice, another family on the team took the dog. They could tell I really didn't have time to deal with it.

Later, after practice, we came home, and I still couldn't find my phone. I looked everywhere, called it, nothing. Finally, I ask Shark Boy if he's seen it, and he says "It went to a secret  hiding place. It didn't want to see you."   I get very serious, and tell him to go get it out of the hiding place. He goes to the van and gets it out of his armrest. 

I love my poor, sick, phone hiding, barely-4-year-old, and tonight tucking him into bed, after I said "I love you" he said "I love you too Mom."  He sounded like such a big boy. He doesn't always reply, he's more of a hugger than a verbal love giver, so my heart is still just jellified over hearing "I love you Mom."  I love that kid. He's way too cute. And Smart. And Amazing, and a Great Friend, Super Big Brother, and just an all around Sweetheart, and I don't tell him that often enough.