Take me out to the ball game...

So, last night was yet another ball game... They lost. Doesn't really matter though, cause the kids never know. Ky always asks me on the way to the car, "Did we win, Mom?" They've only won one game.

While I'm not always excited to go sit on a field, in the still cool weather, and watch them play, once I'm there, I'm cheering just as loud as the other parents. We are good sport parents. We cheer for both teams. Well, they are only 7 & 8 year olds. I think my kid might be one of the youngest on the team at only 6... and a half.

It always amuses me to see the kids interact with each other. They cheer for each other, and give them the "That's ok, you'll do better next time" speech after a strike out, or a missed catch. It's fun to watch them when they warm up in the batter's circle. They pick out a bat. They take a couple practice swings. Then they start hitting dandelion heads. Or swatting at the bugs flying around. Or they just stand there. Last night, one of the boys was swinging the bat around over his head like he was a helicopter. Guess it's a good thing all the other kids were sitting on the bench, someone could have gotten knocked out during lift off.

They seem to take the fielding serious though. Unless they are out there longer than 5 minutes. After that, their attention spans are shot. They draw pictures in the dirt with their toes. Watch the clouds roll by. Just daydream in general.

Coach Mike gets a little excited about that. He tends to get excited about lots of stuff, and I have to admit, I was not happy that he was our coach when we started the season, but I see that his excitement is different than some of the other coach's criticism. He might seem a little gruff, but Kyle has learned more about baseball in the month he's been playing, than he did the entire season last year.

He loves the game. The coach and Kyle. They learn from each other. He tells them how to hit, how to throw, and how to catch. Kyle tries his best to do exactly like it's been explained, but sometimes the effort doesn't always pay off. He gets discouraged. The coach and Kyle. But they both know, there are other at bats, and other times to spend in the field.

Will he love the game and be good enough to go places playing? Who knows. Only time will tell, but in the mean time, I'll be out there cheering. For the base hits and for the strike outs. For the kids at bat and the ones drawing pictures in the dirt with their toes.

Go Kyle!