Game Over

Tball is over and next year we will be on the pitching machine. It is hard to say what I will miss most about son's tball years and it maybe his coaches. Coach Kaine and Coach Woody were not strangers to me. I knew them both growing up and was lucky enough to get them two years in a row. Sometimes watching the coaches is as much fun as watching the kids. Woody will fall out on the sidelines when something goes wrong. Kaine has been known to run around the field and pick kids up and hold them upside down when they make a good play. I feel we have formed a little family with some of these families. I am thankful for the coaches who encourage, teach and even discipline my child. I am thankful for the fun they have brought to our lives.
Then there are these moments that I will miss the most. Down, ready and whistling! To watch your child make an out or catch a ball is exciting and a proud moment. To watch your child miss a ball or get out can be painful to watch. Last year, son would cry every time he got out or missed a play. This year I watched him grow. I would watch him get mad at himself and then shake it off and make a great play later. He turned into a ball player. He still hates to loose but he accepts it and shakes it off.
He learned self confidence this year. I am not sure this was all on the field, I think he thinks he is BIG POPPY from his PlayStation game when he is up to bat! This is him hitting one of his 9 homeruns this year. One of my favorite moments came when one of his teachers from church came up to him at the ballpark. He told son, "you know why you hit all those homeruns today?" Son replied, "well I ate my breakfast." Then he told him, "no because God is good." Son later told me that someone at church had told him baseball was clutter in his life. I had to explain to him how baseball can be clutter if it becomes more important then God. So for all the people who think baseball or sports is from the devil, I vow otherwise. It is growing my little boy into a boy who shakes it off, accepts defeat, savors winning and ends all battles by shaking hands. GAME OVER.