Dismal Finale (with a bounce at the bottom)

[hecubot]

So last Saturday our Double-A Little League team finished off its regular season and capped it with an 8 team playoff series. We were scheduled to play the Orioles, and had beaten them the week before on Emmett's Best Game Ever (when he pitched three shutout innings, collected four hits and played excellent defense). I arrived before the game with

Comments

[cindywrites]

From someone outside of your issues, I say having the kid sit out the game was a good decision on your part, even if you weren't happy getting there

[hecubot]

It was definitely the right decision to keep him out. And I'll definitely talk to Emmett about it. It wasn't a scene - what I described happened as a subtle series of gestures back and forth between the three of us. But I'll be straight with him and apologize for not trusting him more when he said he couldn't play, and then give me back-pocket lecture on Not Giving Up. But to be fair, he's already come back from a broken nose, so I might just keep that lecture in the back pocket for now.

>>>I shit you not, getting inch worms out of the woods, pouring water on their caps, and having sword fights with bats.

I am completely familiar with this scenario and counter with doing somersaults in centerfield during play, infielders having their gloves off in midpitch, players looking off-field when the game was one, or lying down and somebody using the Igloo to water the dugout dirt and create a miniature volcano diorama.

[cindywrites]

Remember, you are Emmett's role model in ways EM will never be. Odds are, he will adopt your bounce-backness anyhow, because you are the male-parent who is an involved, loving parent, who spends much time with him, and is his best friend

[hecubot]

>> Also, this may just have been a mom/dad difference over illness. You're from a military family. You're probably more like Scott is, that is to say of the "walk it off, rub some dirt on it" approach to mild injury and illness.

I definitely am more like Scott on the boo boos. But I'm okay about that too because (a) I don't take it to insane extremes and (b) I think it's okay for Mom and Dad to be different in this way. He needs both my higher expectations and the guarantee of Mom's comforting.

As he gets older I expect he'll shift a little more my way. That's fine. I did have to remind myself that he'd already returned from a broken nose, and the previous weekend he talked his way into playing a double header. He wouldn't have asked out if he didn't feel like crap.

[chicating]

I have a problem knowing when to be resilient and when to walk away, myself.