Posts Tagged "first"

First day of school

Posted by Dad on Aug 23, 2010 in Family, The Blog | 0 comments

Ah, the first day back to school!

Separation anxiety, nerves, excitement, the groggy start… the first day back.

Hopefulness, fear, anticipation, dread, resignation… what a day!

But, it’s 11:30 am and I’m all better now…

…I hope you dads are also feeling better by now.

Oh, by the way, my kids were fine this morning.

All the best

Strike!

Posted by Dad on Nov 22, 2008 in Family | 0 comments

“I’m nervous dad,” my son, The Big Guy, said as he turned the ball over in his glove. Quick glances over to the stands and kicking the dirt around a bit.

“That’s OK, buddy.  You’ve been practicing. You can pitch.  Lets see how it goes. OK?  Just like we practiced at home.”

He gave me a quick look in the eyes and nodded. “OK,” he said.

He was having a good game.  He had hit a single and come home after his teammate smacked a huge in the park home run. He had also jumped sidewise to snatch a blazing line drive and then stepped on third base to get his team’s first double play this season. But, he has never pitched at a game before. Ever. It’s not easy to come into the game to pitch the last inning even though we were up by 9 runs.

He struck out his first batter. I saw some semblance of a smile as I tried to hold back tears.  I was trying to control myself so as not to make him more nervous. “Way to go, buddy!” I yelled out to him trying to hide my feelings.

Next batter, strike, strike, strike. You’re out!  “OH YEAH!” I heard myself say.  One more out and it’s the game.

His smile widened.

Then the wheels came off…walk, walk, Smack, run, run, run. Three runs in a matter of minutes.  He’s thrown a bunch of pitches and I can see he’s tired.  His eyes begin to well up.

“Are you OK, buddy?” I call out. He nods that he isn’t trying to be a little man and hold back the tears.

He’s always very hard on himeself. Too hard. Much harder than we are on him. It’s something he needs to learn to control. He wants to do so well and is so disappointed in himself when he doesn’t meet his own expections.

I run out to the mound. “Buddy, you’re doing fine. Let’s just pitch to this batter and then we’ll let you rest. OK?” I tell him reassuringly. My hand on his shoulder.

He nods an OK. Takes a deep breadth and readies himself.

Ball! Ball! Strike! Foul ball! Ball!

Oh my God, full count I think to myself. Something inside me is twisting itself into knots. The pain I feel for him. I want so much for him to strike this guy out to spare him the hard lesson we must all learn- sometimes you lose. Just let it be over.

He takes a deep breadth, winds up and throws!  Swoosh! Strike!

“You’re OUT! That’s the game!” bellows the umpire.

Whoah!!!  I’m too old for this!

He runs to the dug out smiling like if nothing happened.  I can’t stop smiling, bursting from the volcano of pride inside me. What a feeling.

“I knew you could do it!” I whisper to him as I grab and hug him.

And it’s outta here!

Posted by Dad on Apr 17, 2008 in Family, Parenting | 5 comments

I want to give a proud shout out to all my fellow dads commemorating my boy’s first official home-run!  It happened Tuesday night at the semi-final game for his little league (he’s eight).

The first pitch was high. He swatted at it.

“Come on! Keep your eye on the ball and swing hard!”

Second pitch. In the ground, too low. He didn’t swing.

“Good boy! Good eye! Good eye!”

Third pitch. SMACK!

As if in slow motion, I stand and throw my arms up as I see the ball sail towards left field. The roar of jumping parents and teammates almost too faint to hear.

I turn to see the umpire with his finger in the air doing circles. It’s a homer!!

“Get out there boys!,” I yell to the boys in the dugout. “Go give him a high five!”

I’m overcome with emotion and pride. My eyes tear.

“That’s MY son,” I whisper to myself.

“Way to go, buddy!”

All the best