So starts another season of baseball/softball with the running around to different practices, games etc. I can't complain because 99.9% of that running around is done by Terry. No coaching or team mom duties for us this year. We get to be little league parents with the occasion "snack mom" duties.
As we reach a time in our lives where we have 2 kids that have aged out of Little League, and only a couple years left for those that remain, I have some advice for those parents out there that are knee-deep or even kneck-deep in it all.
1. Skip the banners - they get hung on the dugout and after the initial "that's cute", which the boys after the age of 6 don't care about, they only get in the way (block the view) and then shortly get forgotten.
2. After the age of 11, skip the snacks. Under the age of 12 ther are surely kids that play ONLY for the snack that is given at the end of the game. But after the age of 12 they should play for the love of the game not for the "snack pack" that is put together by the "snack mom".
3. Snack pack competition - let's get serious parents, the competition should be on the field not among the snack moms that compete to see who can put together the best snack pack that many times seems to include all the major food groups along with 7 different types of processed sugar. What ever happened to the traditional "Snow Cone".
4. Picture Day - An age old traditional that will mark my words be forgotten. In this day and age where most soccer moms have better DSLR than the agency taking the pictures, and those that don't know someone that does, paying and posing for a pic of you kid standing there with a stupid grin doesn't compare to the action shots that the photo moms capture each and every game.
Chase would play baseball 365 days a week if he was given the chance, and is excited for each and every moment of baseball. Finally getting out of the shadow of his older brother, Chase while not talking much, carries a big stick, otherwise known as a bat and let's that do the talking. A great eye for the ball, he usually gets on base, and now is developing the power to get multiple bases per hit.
As we reach a time in our lives where we have 2 kids that have aged out of Little League, and only a couple years left for those that remain, I have some advice for those parents out there that are knee-deep or even kneck-deep in it all.
1. Skip the banners - they get hung on the dugout and after the initial "that's cute", which the boys after the age of 6 don't care about, they only get in the way (block the view) and then shortly get forgotten.
2. After the age of 11, skip the snacks. Under the age of 12 ther are surely kids that play ONLY for the snack that is given at the end of the game. But after the age of 12 they should play for the love of the game not for the "snack pack" that is put together by the "snack mom".
3. Snack pack competition - let's get serious parents, the competition should be on the field not among the snack moms that compete to see who can put together the best snack pack that many times seems to include all the major food groups along with 7 different types of processed sugar. What ever happened to the traditional "Snow Cone".
4. Picture Day - An age old traditional that will mark my words be forgotten. In this day and age where most soccer moms have better DSLR than the agency taking the pictures, and those that don't know someone that does, paying and posing for a pic of you kid standing there with a stupid grin doesn't compare to the action shots that the photo moms capture each and every game.
Chase would play baseball 365 days a week if he was given the chance, and is excited for each and every moment of baseball. Finally getting out of the shadow of his older brother, Chase while not talking much, carries a big stick, otherwise known as a bat and let's that do the talking. A great eye for the ball, he usually gets on base, and now is developing the power to get multiple bases per hit.
Brooke is strong willed player (that is a nice way of saying a player with attitude). Growing up with 2 older brothers and an athletic older sister, has pushed her to be fearless. After 3 years of baseball (easier on the parents to have the kids on one field), Brooke enters her second season of softball as the star player on her team. She controls the field from her catcher position, letting the players, coaches and umpire know who is really in charge.
Stop by for a game, they are easy to catch during the next couple of months, it is now one (1) down and about eighteen(18) each to go.
