Activities

One day my son came home from Kindergarten all excited, because one of his classmates brought in his t-ball trophy for show-and-tell. The presence of that trophy sealed it—he simply had to play t-ball this season. This was fine, since we were looking for a sports activity for him to do in the spring.

In case you're not familiar with the concept, t-ball (or Tee-Ball) is a game for little kids derived from baseball. The primary difference, to the casual observer, is the lack of a pitcher. Instead, the children take whacks at a ball mounted on a tee. It's a gentler version of baseball intended primarily to build skills in a fun, non-competitive way.

Actually, in hindsight, I have to change my mind and state that the primary difference is this non-competitive aspect. There are no losers, and no winners. Or, perhaps, everyone's a winner. Either way, it can be a little confusing for parents new to the game, especially when trying to figure out when an inning's over or puzzling over the fact that a kid who was clearly "out" is still running on to third base. Everybody gets a turn at bat. There are no strikes, no outs, and no score. It's for fun.

Unless you've been in outer space or maybe detained in Guantanamo Bay, you've probably been to at least one Easter egg hunt by now. Collectively, as a family, we've been to two so far, although we probably could have spent all day at various versions today if we'd wanted to. Although they're great fun for the children, they do something that we've been trying to avoid lately, namely accumulate more candy and/or stuff that can get caught in the vacuum cleaner, not to mention those plastic eggs.

Then there are the well meaning but misguided grandparents that give each child an additional easter basket to the one the Easter Bunny fills. With 3 sets of gp's (1 intact pair and one divorced=3 sets) giving out goodies, it gets quickly overwhelming. Personally, I think it's revenge of some sort, although I haven't figured out exactly for what yet. Maybe those vinyl barstools I punctured with a ball point pen back when I was in first grade?