A Terrbile Injustice...

I'm ashamed to say it. Donny and I have committed a terrible injustice when it comes to our children. I was unaware of it until I took them outback today to play a bit of baseball. Olivia has been playing kickball at school so I thought, "Oh there are similarities, this should be easy." WRONG! I laughed so hard for an hour that I almost...well, you get the picture. :) Now, mind you, both our kids have gloves, and we have bats, and balls. We have played catch and had them practice hitting for years. I guess, however, that we have never really tried to play an actual game. Probably because it's hard to play with just 4 people. Even harder with just 3, let me now tell you from this afternoon's experience. Especially when only one of those players understands the rules! At the beginning, Boston was up to bat, Liv was in the field, and I was the pitcher. I had the where-with-all the have them hit AWAY from the pool but that was where my wisdom stopped. As the "game" went on: Bos was calling "Stripe one, Stripe two,...", Liv was running the bases carrying the bat, Boston carried first base with him as he ran, Liv hit the ball (an awesome hit) HARD right into my gut, Bos had his glove on upside down, Liv was standing at home plate in a ballet stance as she tried to hit, Bos was running around "the outfield" showing off his new Cars underpants, Liv was pitching to me so high that I felt as though she thought I was a giraffe, Boston was "relieving himself" in right field, the ball knocked a branch off a banana tree and a light bulb off a solar light in the garden, Liv "tagged Boston out" while I was holding the ball...you get the picture!!! All that said though, there was never one argument, one time of drama or tears, one moment of throwing something in frustration, one unkind word muttered or yelled. It was an absolutely perfect afternoon! And to top it off?? It was sunny and almost 80 degrees out! So, yes, the kids need work on how the game of baseball is played, but overall, I see the afternoon as a total success. We had fun, we laughed with each other, we came in with dirty hands and knees, and we can't wait to play again another afternoon. Who cares if we don't really know how to play? I bet we had more fun in an hour than many of those "professional" teams do in an entire season. PLAY BALL!