R is playing baseball in a very intense league this year. He is on a 5&6 year old team that practices three times a week and will have 12 games in five weeks. Like I said: intense.
It was R's greatest desire to play. He actually sat out of Winter sports because he wanted to make sure there would be no conflicts with baseball.
He is the smallest kid on the team and his talent does not yet match his heart and his hustle. R doesn't seem to notice. He really loves baseball. Even so, when his first scrimmage tonight pushed towards the 90 minute mark, R had had it.
At 7pm as hunger and fatigue set in, R decided he was done. His team was taking the field for the bottom of the final inning--but he did not plan to join them.
"I am NOT going."
"Your team needs you. Get your glove on. Finish strong."
"I am ti-yerd and hun-gwy. I don't want to play anymo-wa!"
"Come on, buddy. You are almost finished. Let's go."
"No," he cried. He crossed his arms defiantly.
At this point, my husband who was fielding 'on call' calls between coaching baseball innings picked him up and carried him to the outfield. He sat down in his position, cross-legged and cross-armed and pouted.
K & P had already eaten their way through my snacks, but I ran back to the car to see if I could find anything to tie him over. I uncovered a forgotten bag of fruit snacks in the wayback of my Yukon--the glory of a Mom-mobile!
I ran them back to my husband who ripped open the little bag on the field and filled up R's right hand.
Just then, as I breathed a sigh of relief, a pop fly ball was lobbed straight towards my boy. This was his moment. And he was handicapped by the fruit snacks.
R watched the ball drop as he ran towards it, but then he couldn't pick it up. He had a glove on his left hand and a tight grip on the snacks in his right. He looked confused, flustered even. R wanted to throw the ball infield and make a play...but what to do with those glorious fruit snacks? After a bit of fumbling (and a quick move to shift snacks from hand to mouth) he managed to get the ball infield.
As the other parents giggled and quipped, "Was he eating? There's no eating in baseball!"
I thanked my lucky stars that it was just a scrimmage.
7 comments:
That would have been my daughter. Bless his hungwy and ty-rd heart.
Those parents who think that there is no eating in baseball, don't remember how hungry a little tummy feels at 7pm. When I played t-ball (a long time ago), we had fruit in the dugout. Can the kids have fruit or something in the dugout? I'm sure all the kids would play better if they had half an orange or an apple in their tummies!
Laura- I am learning how to be a baseball mama! I will definitely have a better back up plan in the future. I tried to get him to snack beforehand to no avail. Hopefully he'll remember this littl incident next time! :-)
Does R have a bag just for baseball? When mine were little I put a large ziploc bag in their sportsbags. In the ziploc I put small bags of pretzels, raisins, dried cranberries, granola bars...things that wouldn't spoil. That way there was always something for them to grab without me having to remember at each game.
Now that they are teenagers, we just throw money in their bags. Casey's is very popular with the softball girls after practice....
This is a post that will need to be shared when he is playing high school baseball. Some things will never change. He will still be hungry. He may still not want to play the last inning. He may still miss the ball.He will still be ti yerd. The fruit snacks will be sunflower seeds...but the heart will be the same. Precious R!
oh I just loved reading this! I felt like I was watching it played out in a movie. What great memories!
I just read this to Jay and he got a big kick out of it! Gamble is the worst to call me from the dug out and ask for a hot dog. They work up an appetite!
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