"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life;
to put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived." ~Henry David Thoreau

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Tee Ball Begins

Ethan has been talking non-stop for months about starting baseball. He's been a "natural" since he was two years old. So in February Cody took him to get signed up the first hour of the first day of registration. We're lucky that a guy from our ward/neighborhood is his coach. He's Stockton's dad and the kids are good friends. We were sure that since he knew the coach and at least ONE kid on the team that he would do fine.
Last Saturday was his first practice and Cody had taken him a few days before to get a new glove. The boys of the house were so excited for the start of the season! We made it a family outing to go to his first practice. To make a long story short, Ethan cried most of the time and wouldn't even look at the coach or any of the kids. He sat on the grass and was frozen with fear. He can be painfully shy in certain situations and this turned out to be one of them. Cody and I did our best to exercise patience and understanding, but it was wearing thin. Finally we packed up and left.
All week long we have been hyping him up even more about playing ball. This week Cody took him out to get cleats and on Friday they will go get a new bat. It's all about helping him be excited. On Tuesday evening Cody came home from work early and the kids played ball in the backyard while I made dinner. Ethan practiced with his tee and I loved listening to their banter from the kitchen window. At one point Ethan came running inside and said "Mom, where did you put my new shirt and hat?!" He just couldn't play ball with out them! I know he really wants to play. Being shy in a situation like that must be a huge handicap to over come. But I know Ethan will come around and maybe after THIS Saturday's practice he'll see that it isn't so scary after all. By the way, they are the Cincinnati Reds!





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