Being the critical 5 years of age, Jack was able to start t-ball this spring! I have to admit I know little to nothing about t-ball/baseball and Justin has had to work some crazy hours lately so we arrived at the assessment a few weeks ago without a clue as to what said 'assessment' entailed. I had to nurse Beckett in the car so I missed the actual event, but apparently our little slugger was the only kid who showed up in jeans and tennis shoes instead of full on t-ball regalia. I noticed by people-watching out my window that had I made an appearance on the t-ball field I would have been the only mom not wearing track pants, tennis shoes, an oversized sweatshirt, and a baseball cap; the unofficial uniform of the t-ball mom. Noted.
Anyway, Justin told me the assessment consisted of three rotations to judge skill. Since we haven't practiced or played this particular sport with the boys, well, ever (unless you count the plastic t-ball set Jackson had when he was two years old), I immediately felt a pang of anxiety. The first rotation was hitting the ball off of the tee. They had four chances to accomplish this task. Justin said he quickly showed Jack how to hold the bat and swing, then off he went! He missed the first ball (hit the tee instead) and Justin was nervous. The following three hits, however, Jack managed to slam off of the tee and impress everyone! Atta' boy! :)
The second rotation was throwing the ball to the coach. Not only did our son throw the ball correctly and with great aim, but he threw with such power the coach missed the first ball and had to back up quite a bit! I wish I could have seen it! (Justin was pretty much gloating at this point in the story.)
The final rotation was catching the ball with a glove. Unfortunately (although not unexpectedly since he's really never used one before), Jack didn't do so hot in this area, but Justin said none of the kids did very well with the glove on so he's not at a disadvantage comparatively (as a usually non-competative person I was surprised at how satisfied I was to hear this, lol). Now we know to just practice, practice, practice with him!
Jack had his first real practice on a Wednesday night and we'd spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon going from Target to Dick's and then back to Target to find all of the gear he needed. Once we got home from our final stop on Wednesday, Jack put on his new socks, cleats, pants, and belt and went outside with his new bat and ball to start, "training," for practice. :) He looks SO adorable in his little clothes! Their real uniforms will be black and silver and their team name is the Ironbirds. The practice went great (he's so little compared to some of the 5 year olds who looks like 5th graders out there!) and he fit right in with the other boys. It was so much fun watching him during the practice - and every now and then he would look back at me and Justin to make sure we saw a good hit or throw. Then he'd give us a thumbs up and get back to his practice.
I love this! I guess I didn't realize how much fun it would be to enter this stage where Jack can start playing sports (as in REALLY playing... Not just the little non-competition stuff like soccer last year).
And Jackson loves it, too. On our way home from practice he was sitting in his seat with his arms crossed behind his head just looking out the window. I asked him if he had fun and he looked at me in the rearview mirror, smiled really big and said, "Oh, yeah! You know, I'm GREAT at this!"
This little diva was none too happy to have to sit on the sidelines. She kept running out onto the practice field and chasing the boys.
So thankful for my little family!
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