Alex’s friend Bennett is playing t-ball through the city program. When Alex saw him in his uniform (or “costume” as Alex calls it), he decided he wanted to play. Unfortunately, bad mom that I am, I had no idea when they signed up, played, etc., so we missed the city cutoff. As luck would have it, two days later, on my way home from work I saw a sign up at the YMCA advertising sign-ups for T-Ball and Coaches’ Pitch teams. I went on their website when I got home. Of course, sign-up had ended that day. I know the fabulous Y director Anna, though, and sent her pitiful email begging for an extension. She graciously (and swiftly) agreed so that our household did not have to live in suspense.
Okay, everyone who knows me knows that I am not athletic by any means. I could not care less about standing in the broiling sun (more about that later) by a ball field. But, Alex wanted to do it, AND I figured if he doesn’t learn the basics now, it will be way harder for him to pick it up in a few years when everyone else on the team already knows how to play. So, I thought t-ball was a benign way to go.
I announced that he was signed up – much excitement. We acquired a t-ball set over the weekend so we could practice batting from the tee, catching with a foam ball, etc. Tuesday was D-Day, or T-Day, as it were. Alex was really excited. He had his hat, glove and water bottle, and we headed to the Y. The Y program is a bit more low-key than the city’s. They focus more on skills and basics. Everyone gets a team t-shirt, but no uniforms or official schedules/games. So, how did practice go?
First off, it was at least 10 degrees hotter than it has been lately. The car thermometer said 85, but it felt 105, at least. Alex skipped out to the field and met his coaches, Coach April and Coach Jennifer. (Coach Jennifer’s husband helps, too, but I didn’t catch his name.) There were 12 or so kids on the team or vastly varying ages and abilities. There’s a 3-year-old that was awesome and a 7-year-old that they had to convince where the bases were. Alex falls in between. I first suspected an attention span problem when they lined up to run the bases and Alex was near the end of the line. He started flapping his arms and clucking while waiting his turn. (Establishing the class clown thing early on, I guess.) He ran the bases, all is well.
Then they divided the team in half with Alex’s group going to batting practice and the other half heading out to practice throwing and catching. Alex was the first at bat after we found a helmet that would fit on his big old head. It took him a couple of times to get the hang of it but he did pretty well. He just has to focus and keep his eye on the ball. The difficulty came after he finished. Since he was the first one, he had to wait in right field-ish for the six or so others to bat. It was hot, he was bored. He heckled a batter – “COME ON – HIT IT!” That was when the coaches decided to take a water break. This was about 45 minutes into the hour-long practice. When he made it off the field he announced that he’d never wanted to do this, was ready to leave and was never coming back. We forced him back on the field. He sat down on first base. When the rest of the team came out he got up for a minute. There was a hit near mid-field and two or three others tried to get the ball as well as Alex. When he didn’t get there in time he threw down his glove and stomped on it. Another kid kicked at it, and I thought there might be a knockdown drag-out for a moment but Coach April stepped in. Art was trying not to laugh and I was hiding behind a tree. She got them separated but that was pretty much it for Alex. He sat down, took off his hat and glove and pouted. The coach tried to get him up for a minute but gave up. Shortly thereafter they had a team huddle to end the practice. Alex (through a combination of intense sign language gestures and yelling) was made to participate. The team (except for Alex) voted on a team name. They are now the Green Gators. The coach told me, “I think he was upset that the name he wanted didn’t win.” I thought she’d lost him a good ten minutes before that, but I didn’t say so.
Alex dragged his feet and pouted all the way home. He said he was never going back. I got out of him one reason he didn’t like it. He thought there’d be a ready made team with a game right away, scorekeeping, etc. I explained that they had to learn the rules before they did that and the games would come later. He still wanted to quit. I told him it was only six weeks. He has five more weeks with one practice each week, so 5 hours total until June. He was on the fence until I told him that if he didn’t finish I was selling his toys until I got my money back. That sealed the deal.
At school the next day his teacher asked me how it went, since he’d talked so much about it. She said that he told them how they were learning the rules and how much fun it was. Little turkey.
Another note from school: they may have found a way to get him to behave at naptime. When I picked him up yesterday I asked what they had done in school. Here’s the list:
- ate hot dogs
- played outside
- learned about Cinco de Mayo
- visited the babies’ room (the 2-year-olds’ class)
Hmmm. Why did you go see the babies? Did you have storytime together? “No, they sent me over there because I kept talking to Michael and waking him up during nap.” It turns out that his punishment is to take his mat into the 2 year old room. He doesn’t know them very well and they are “babies” so he doesn’t talk to any of them. I don’t think he sleeps but at least he doesn’t bother anyone else. He’d told Art that he’d been in the baby room the day before as well, but Art didn’t ask for what. So they’ve done it at least two days and his teacher says it works. Not bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment