Baseball Games

Our busy weekend started off with baseball games on Friday and Saturday.

Clay continues to fuss every time we get ready to leave the house for a game. He says things like, "Why do we have to play twice in one week? Can't we skip one of the games?" or my personal favorite, "You are dragging me everywhere around town. I just want to stay home so I can play with my brother and sister." And then there is the variation of that second one, in which he says, "I'm tired of always being gone. I just want to stay home to write books."

Yes, that's my boy. The homebody.

His allergies are bad right now, and I considered letting him skip one of the games. But we went. And today I'll be making a call to our pediatrician to talk about allergy control options. Clay is getting Claritin every morning and Benadryl before each outdoor activity, and he still looks like we've been punching him in the eyes, with lots of swelling and that lovely blue tint in the bags under his eyes.

Once he's on the fields, he seems to enjoy himself.



He's closing his eyes when he bats, which explains a lot. I showed him several pictures just like the one below so he'd realize what he's doing.



In Friday's game, at Clay's first time at bat, he swung and the ball hit his fingers on the bat, smashing them. He didn't make too big a deal out of it, but the coaches said he couldn't play anymore that game. Bruce and I didn't understand that.

I was thinking, "Uh-uh. No way. You get that kid back in the game. Do you know what I had to put up with to even get him here? Unless he's bleeding or something is broken, he can play, by golly."

I am not a huge baseball fan, but after the ordeal it took to get Clay there, I wasn't sure he didn't say something to the coaches to convince them he could no longer play. But Bruce said the coaches said it was policy. Whatever.

Back to Clay's eye shutting. When I mentioned to him what he was doing and asked him why, he said he was afraid he'd get hit by the ball. I just smiled and said, "Well, that already happened now, didn't it? And you didn't make a big deal about it. You didn't even cry. That's the worst thing you can think of happening, and it happened and you lived to tell about it. Next time keep your eyes open, because it won't be worse than that."

I know that's faulty logic in a hundred ways, but Clay smiled and said he'd try. Who needs logic if you can help a child get over his fears?

Spencer is day to Clay's night. That boy loves his baseball. He's not particularly skilled at this point, but he makes up for it with enthusiasm.

I have a question though. What is the difference between the helmet in this photo (Spencer is in the middle)...



...and the helmet in this photo?



Why would they put that gargantuan one on such a small head?

Spencer listens well to his coaches, but when he doesn't understand something, he is not afraid to ask questions.



It's raining this morning and I cancelled our vet appointment to get Dixie her shots. I am not loading an outdoor dog into the trunk space of our van while she's wet and probably muddy. Maybe Bruce can take her Saturday morning while I am at the Extraordinary Women's Conference with Cassie and Christy. Yes, that sounds nice. Bruce can take the dog, along with all three kids, to the vet. He rarely gets those sorts of pleasures that are a part of my day on a regular basis. He'll love that!

I'm hoping Clay's practice tonight will be cancelled. Even if it's not, I might not take him. I haven't told him that later in the season he has four games in one week. He'll love that!