Batter Up!

Monday night as the kids and I had settled in to watch Bambi for the first time (honest to God, we were watching Bambi), David burst through the door, home from work, with two new kids' baseball mits, a "lefty" for Grace, and a "righty" (that doesn't sound right) for Johnny. The kids flipped their lids. Way to one-up me, David. So long, Bambi, hello, baseball. From that moment on, everyone in the house (except me) has had baseball on the brain, 24/7. Really, all day and all night--I woke up this morning to find two adults, two kids, and three baseball mits all in our queen-sized bed. (Ok, David's mit wasn't actually in bed with us, but it was on the bedside table).

Baseball is the current sport de jour in our house. David grew up a Cleveland Indians fan, living just outside of Cleveland, and when I took him to his first Durham Bulls game, he ridiculed the minor-league fans who had to resort to interludes of MC Hammer ("You Can't Touch This") chants and dances just to make the baseball-game-watching experience fun. Real baseball fans don't do all that crap. Still, it's the closest thing to "real" baseball we have in our area, and the games can be fun, especially with kids. Last summer, we took Johnny and Grace to their first Durham Bulls game, and David was real excited to show Johnny the players up close, what they were wearing, their gloves, the bats, the bases, etc. Wouldn't you know, Johnny showed no interest in the baseball game but was completely caught up with the over-sized, red-haired, goofy-toothed, "Rugrats" character that was milling the stands. Whenever David referred to the baseball game we went to, all Johnny remembered was that a "Rugrat" was there. This season is going to be different.

Johnny takes his glove in his backpack at school, and the minute he gets home he wants to play outside until bedtime. He wants to bathe with it, sleep with it, and even wear it as a hat. For a two-year old, he's got quite a throwing arm, I'm told, but his catching needs some work. Speaking of catching, David's mom was glad to hear that David is sharing his love of baseball with the kids. She shared her memories of sitting in the stands watching David's baseball games when he played as a boy. That is, until the parents started saying nasty things about how lowsy the catcher was. After that, Millie started watching the games from her car. David was the catcher.

I'll teach them about Bambi but baseball is all David. It's good to see David sharing something he knows and loves with his kids. (And I'm sure David is glad that Johnny is consumed with something other than wearing tutus and high-heels these days). Batter Up!