personal, tv/movies

openning day

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max’s little league openning day was this morning. there are about 30 teams, maybe 40. this is a rough rundown of the morning for me:

drop off jeannie and max
drive around for 15 minutes trying to find a place to park
walk the 1/2 mile from the car
find family
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
watch max throw a couple balls in a thing that measures the ball speed
comfort max because his wasn’t as fast as he would have liked it to be
explain that 32 miles an hour is pretty fast
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
bump into our church’s high school pastor (not a lurker — he also has kids in little league)
make small talk
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
take max over where his team is supposed to stand (around)
stand around
stand around
go stand by jeannie while the “official” stuff begins
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around (while listening, occaisionally, to the introduction of the little league board of directors, the coaches, blah, blah, blah, blah, can we have another blah)
watch max’s team run 15 feet to a new spot — as each team does, one at a time — and sit down.
realize that’s pretty much what we came here for
stand around
stand around
realize the snack line will be instantly long when they dismiss, so go stand in short line to get a slurpee for max
choose “small strawberry” slurpee
realize small is really, really small
listen as jeannie tells me max won’t like strawberry
drink the really small strawberry slurpee myself (surprisingly good!)
stand in line again to get max a LARGE blue raspberry slurpee
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
realize “official stuff” wasn’t as close to being over as i thought
realize large blue raspberry slurpee is seriously melting
start to try to ‘slurp’ off the excess liquid in max’s slurpee, so he doesn’t get bummed that it’s all melted
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
ceremony ends
run the stupid slurpee out to him, rather than waiting for him to come to me, because this thing has just about no actual slushiness left in it (here, max, here’s some blue liquid for you)
max is excited
stand around
stand around
stand around
stand around
give max 5 minutes to run around
stand around
stand around
find him 15 minutes later
trudge up the hill to the car
drive the car exactly 32 mile per hour and tell max this is how fast the ball he threw was traveling
max’s eyes get huge, massive smile appears
realize it was worth it.

12 thoughts on “openning day”

  3. You’re a regular Master Card commercial!

    West’s (7) opening day was similar for me, minus the slurpy (I’m not that nice, as he’s my 3rd) but also included a phone call from John giving me a play by play of Molly’s (15.5) shuttle hurdle relay across town. Aren’t kids great!

    Oh, ya…John completed the half pipe in our front yard so now he can relive his teen years West can skate with his friends. Oh ya again…it’s a ministry opportunity. (Doesn’t that make it tax deductable?)

  5. Marko,
    That’s nothing. Our son played baseball until he was 24 years old — standing around after a while gets to be an art.

    The perfect solution, Marko, is that you start coaching baseball. At some place in that process of coaching you realize standing around is part of the game and you find it meaningful. I’m not sure when it begins, but it could be about year 5.

  9. Marko,
    I’ve tried to send you my airplane plans for Estes Park three times this weekend, and it keeps coming back.
    Can you e-mail me about this?

  10. I love reading your stories about Max. As another dad of an 8 year old, I relate well to so much of what you share. I loved your story about “the walk” and I look forward to doing stuff like that with Michael… as well as my three other sons as they get older. Thanks for allowing us to see into your family. Even your stories are ministering to others.

  11. BTW – Michael’s little league opens up here the end of March/beginning of April (we don’t have an exact date yet). You S.Cal. folks get the good baseball weather a bit earlier.

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