Jack had this book with a scratch 'n' sniff skunk in it. He'd scratch it, we'd both lean forward and sniff it. I'd lean back, saying "Ewwwwww!" Jack did the same. Sometimes I'd mix it up: "Oh, that's not that bad at EWWWWWWWW!" which cracked Jack up, and then he'd do the same thing.
Kate was sitting there also, seeing us doing this, cracking up. So she started cracking up. And then she started doing it, but she didn't really get that it was the skunk making us go "EWWWW."
So she'd say "EWWWWW" and then lean forward so that her face touched the book. And then lean back. And we'd all crack up. Then she'd go "EWWWW" again, lean forward....
We did this for about 10 good minutes. Great minutes.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Catching up
- Kate's baby's head fell off last week, at school. In the car on the way home, it continued to fall off. She was quite upset, as you might expect. Then she didn't really want to hold it anymore. Kind of unnerved by the whole thing, I guess. She left it home Thursday, and I spent a good hour and a half figuring out how to get it on and keep it on. Hopefully she'll come around to it again, but that hasn't happened yet.
- Jack's been watching Phineas and Ferb. It's a funny show but it's possible it's a little old for him. Emily and I enjoy it, which I guess says it all. Anyway, there was one with a mummy, and lately he's been coming out with strange questions. "Where do you find mummies?" "Will I be wrapped up in toilet paper like a mummy?"On the bright side, the shows have some songs, and it's pretty funny when Jack starts singing one of them randomly. The songs are typically doo-wop type stuff. Jack does cute versions of them.
- Dancing in the kitchen has become a thing lately. Used to be after dinner, I'd be washing dishes or something and put the radio on. Now Jack sometimes starts dancing even before there's music on, swinging his arms and stomping his feet and stuff. So then I put music on, and we both start dancing, and then Kate starts bobbing her head back and forth in her high chair, and then she wants out. So Emily gets her out and the four of us start dancing in the kitchen. It's not a big kitchen. Kate's dancing is normally to hold our hands and let her body relax, so that we're lifting her up, swinging her somewhat, by her arms. Jack likes to pull on our arms, and shake his butt around (at some point he came up with a song he sings sometimes, which I believe is Emily's fault: "My boo-ty butt.....my boo-ty butt....."). And then he tries to pick us up like we pick Kate up, which of course doesn't work out so well.
- Today we went out in the backyard late in the afternoon with a bubble machine. Not sure I mentioned it before. It runs on 6 batteries and has a wheel with about 8 wands so it blows a whole lot of bubbles. So the air was filled with bubbles, that Kate looked at with bemusement and Jack laughed at and ran away from....or toward...or away from. The bubble liquid also had a big wand. Jack used it to blow some bubbles. Kate tried, so hard, to blow some bubbles, but she couldn't get that you needed to keep your mouth slightly away from the wand. She basically kept trying to kiss it.
Then I took the wand and used it to blow larger bubbles. I blew a big one, and it floated off across the patio. Jack tried to catch it, running after it, leaping in the air, laughing.
- Jack's been watching Phineas and Ferb. It's a funny show but it's possible it's a little old for him. Emily and I enjoy it, which I guess says it all. Anyway, there was one with a mummy, and lately he's been coming out with strange questions. "Where do you find mummies?" "Will I be wrapped up in toilet paper like a mummy?"On the bright side, the shows have some songs, and it's pretty funny when Jack starts singing one of them randomly. The songs are typically doo-wop type stuff. Jack does cute versions of them.
- Dancing in the kitchen has become a thing lately. Used to be after dinner, I'd be washing dishes or something and put the radio on. Now Jack sometimes starts dancing even before there's music on, swinging his arms and stomping his feet and stuff. So then I put music on, and we both start dancing, and then Kate starts bobbing her head back and forth in her high chair, and then she wants out. So Emily gets her out and the four of us start dancing in the kitchen. It's not a big kitchen. Kate's dancing is normally to hold our hands and let her body relax, so that we're lifting her up, swinging her somewhat, by her arms. Jack likes to pull on our arms, and shake his butt around (at some point he came up with a song he sings sometimes, which I believe is Emily's fault: "My boo-ty butt.....my boo-ty butt....."). And then he tries to pick us up like we pick Kate up, which of course doesn't work out so well.
- Today we went out in the backyard late in the afternoon with a bubble machine. Not sure I mentioned it before. It runs on 6 batteries and has a wheel with about 8 wands so it blows a whole lot of bubbles. So the air was filled with bubbles, that Kate looked at with bemusement and Jack laughed at and ran away from....or toward...or away from. The bubble liquid also had a big wand. Jack used it to blow some bubbles. Kate tried, so hard, to blow some bubbles, but she couldn't get that you needed to keep your mouth slightly away from the wand. She basically kept trying to kiss it.
Then I took the wand and used it to blow larger bubbles. I blew a big one, and it floated off across the patio. Jack tried to catch it, running after it, leaping in the air, laughing.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
yesterday and today
- Went to soccer in the morning. Jack almost -- ALMOST! -- scored a goal. Kicked it near the post, it bounced out, and this girl who'd already scored twice kicked it in. Still, it was very close, and I kind of tried to convince Jack he'd scored it. I don't think he was buying.
- Went to the playground after. Mommy and Kate had walked up a walkway and, while Jack was on a slide, I walked a few feet up from the playground to let them know where we were. I looked back a minute later and Jack was standing, wailing. He couldn't see me and was scared. Another mother was trying to soothe him. I ran over. It was OK, but it felt bad anyway.
- Jack went out to buy plants with Mommy. Came back with a big plastic shovel, his second of the week. Because you know, he loves having little shovels.
- Went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with the Rosenfelds and Grandma. Kate at one point sat in the high chair for about 10 minutes! It was great. She let Reanna feed her a bit. Jack sat next to Lyndsay and they mostly entertained each other, sometimes with peals of laughter. A good meal, and probably Jack and Kate's best meal out ever.
- Came back and gave them baths, then put Kate to bed while Emily handled Jack. Kate's doing a new thing where she points to the crib when she's done with stories and wants to get in it. It's not that she then goes right to sleep, but at least she's recognizing she's tired and telling us so.
- Kate wore her little dress today and was very pretty.
- Jack played with his cousins again, who came over for a cold cuts lunch.
- Emily's cousins Marik and Maggie were in town. Both kids were fascinated by Marik. Nothing against Maggie, they've always been kind of interested in male relatives, presumably because they have fewer of them, I don't know. Jack and Marik read "Where's Wally?" and other books together. Then played with dinosaurs, Jack taking them each out of their toy bin and naming them. "This is T-Rex. ....... THIS is Stegosaurus. .... This is...."
- Kate played the xylophone for Marik. For a good 10 minutes. I think she was smitten too.
Good weekend.
- Went to the playground after. Mommy and Kate had walked up a walkway and, while Jack was on a slide, I walked a few feet up from the playground to let them know where we were. I looked back a minute later and Jack was standing, wailing. He couldn't see me and was scared. Another mother was trying to soothe him. I ran over. It was OK, but it felt bad anyway.
- Jack went out to buy plants with Mommy. Came back with a big plastic shovel, his second of the week. Because you know, he loves having little shovels.
- Went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with the Rosenfelds and Grandma. Kate at one point sat in the high chair for about 10 minutes! It was great. She let Reanna feed her a bit. Jack sat next to Lyndsay and they mostly entertained each other, sometimes with peals of laughter. A good meal, and probably Jack and Kate's best meal out ever.
- Came back and gave them baths, then put Kate to bed while Emily handled Jack. Kate's doing a new thing where she points to the crib when she's done with stories and wants to get in it. It's not that she then goes right to sleep, but at least she's recognizing she's tired and telling us so.
- Kate wore her little dress today and was very pretty.
- Jack played with his cousins again, who came over for a cold cuts lunch.
- Emily's cousins Marik and Maggie were in town. Both kids were fascinated by Marik. Nothing against Maggie, they've always been kind of interested in male relatives, presumably because they have fewer of them, I don't know. Jack and Marik read "Where's Wally?" and other books together. Then played with dinosaurs, Jack taking them each out of their toy bin and naming them. "This is T-Rex. ....... THIS is Stegosaurus. .... This is...."
- Kate played the xylophone for Marik. For a good 10 minutes. I think she was smitten too.
Good weekend.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Kate's Baby
Jack has never really had a favorite toy. I mean, he had his "sheep" for a while, which was actually a fleecy dog in a "World Champion Red Sox" T-shirt. He has his stuffed puppy, which he's slept with most every night for more than 2 years. But he's never been so attached to any one toy that he cried when it was taken away.
And then there's Kate, with her baby. On her first birthday, Grandma gave her these plastic dolls, twin babies, one in blue and one in pink. For a little while Jack liked them more than Kate, and then they were forgotten for a while, and then recently Kate started carrying them around. And then for the last week it's just been the pink one. And she brings it everywhere. Downstairs. Upstairs. To school (they said it was OK). She keeps it locked into one arm, hugged tight against her. Try to take it from her, and there's a scene. Set it down for her when it's time to eat, there's a scene. "My baby!" she wails. "My baby!!!!"
Ground rules have gradually, painfully, been established. If you tell her where to put it down -- on a chair near the table when she eats, on a step stool near the tub when she takes her bath -- she grudgingly accepts. Even this took a while.
She sleeps with her baby. When I go in in the morning, she's standing up, baby locked under her arm. When I pick her up at school, she's standing there, baby locked into an arm. Evidently she doesn't let it go much.
That's just one example of how expressive Kate has become in recent weeks. She plays with Jack's dinosaurs and makes little throaty growls while doing so. The fits she pitches are quite remarkable (not as much fun as the growling dinosaurs). She talks more, often loudly. She laughs and runs and plays Jack's favorite game, which basically involves chasing her around the house, her laughing the whole way. Today she was actually out of breath after it. Jack too, I think.
Of course, it's tiring for her to run everywhere while carrying her baby.
And then there's Kate, with her baby. On her first birthday, Grandma gave her these plastic dolls, twin babies, one in blue and one in pink. For a little while Jack liked them more than Kate, and then they were forgotten for a while, and then recently Kate started carrying them around. And then for the last week it's just been the pink one. And she brings it everywhere. Downstairs. Upstairs. To school (they said it was OK). She keeps it locked into one arm, hugged tight against her. Try to take it from her, and there's a scene. Set it down for her when it's time to eat, there's a scene. "My baby!" she wails. "My baby!!!!"
Ground rules have gradually, painfully, been established. If you tell her where to put it down -- on a chair near the table when she eats, on a step stool near the tub when she takes her bath -- she grudgingly accepts. Even this took a while.
She sleeps with her baby. When I go in in the morning, she's standing up, baby locked under her arm. When I pick her up at school, she's standing there, baby locked into an arm. Evidently she doesn't let it go much.
That's just one example of how expressive Kate has become in recent weeks. She plays with Jack's dinosaurs and makes little throaty growls while doing so. The fits she pitches are quite remarkable (not as much fun as the growling dinosaurs). She talks more, often loudly. She laughs and runs and plays Jack's favorite game, which basically involves chasing her around the house, her laughing the whole way. Today she was actually out of breath after it. Jack too, I think.
Of course, it's tiring for her to run everywhere while carrying her baby.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Kate talking
We were trying to count Kate's words the other night. It's probably somewhere between 10 and 20, depending on whether you count ones that she says but we can't tell what they are. Here are the definites.
"Mama" and "Daddy" - We hear these sometimes when she sees us and is excited, most often when she wants somebody to get her out of the crib in the morning or wants to be picked up. It's particularly nice when she's happy -- when I pick her up from school or something.
"Mine" - This we hear if we try to take something, anything, away from her.
"My" - Similar deal. "My baby!" in reference to her dolls, which are babies. She loves them lately. Walks around carrying them, bringing them to us, showing us them, then taking them back.
"Baby" - see above.
"Water" - this is more accurately, "wawa." When she's thirsty. Er, obviously.
"Butterfly" - this also is most often, "fuffer fly." It's pretty cute.
"Apple" - I have a hard time with this one, because I think she says it when she wants an apple, and also when she has an apple, and sometimes when she doesn't want an apple. So I'm really not sure if she's actually talking about apples all the time. She gives it a nice two-syllable pronunciation. "Ap-pull."
"Fish" - This one is pretty cute. Frequently she's talking about goldfish crackers. So she walks into the kitchen, and she says it with a slight "ee" sound, so it's "feesh....feesh...." (Then when she gets them...) "Feesh! Feesh!"
"Baba" - She calls grampa "Baba" sometimes. And sometimes she calls him "Grampa," I think. Usually hopefully. "Grampa?"
"Dack" - Jack, obviously.
There's a couple more ("Woof" is one of them, when she sees a picture of a dog) but that's all I can think of offhand.
____________________
Jack soccer update: He kicked the ball today! Twice! First thing he said to Mommy when we got home. Go, Jack!
"Mama" and "Daddy" - We hear these sometimes when she sees us and is excited, most often when she wants somebody to get her out of the crib in the morning or wants to be picked up. It's particularly nice when she's happy -- when I pick her up from school or something.
"Mine" - This we hear if we try to take something, anything, away from her.
"My" - Similar deal. "My baby!" in reference to her dolls, which are babies. She loves them lately. Walks around carrying them, bringing them to us, showing us them, then taking them back.
"Baby" - see above.
"Water" - this is more accurately, "wawa." When she's thirsty. Er, obviously.
"Butterfly" - this also is most often, "fuffer fly." It's pretty cute.
"Apple" - I have a hard time with this one, because I think she says it when she wants an apple, and also when she has an apple, and sometimes when she doesn't want an apple. So I'm really not sure if she's actually talking about apples all the time. She gives it a nice two-syllable pronunciation. "Ap-pull."
"Fish" - This one is pretty cute. Frequently she's talking about goldfish crackers. So she walks into the kitchen, and she says it with a slight "ee" sound, so it's "feesh....feesh...." (Then when she gets them...) "Feesh! Feesh!"
"Baba" - She calls grampa "Baba" sometimes. And sometimes she calls him "Grampa," I think. Usually hopefully. "Grampa?"
"Dack" - Jack, obviously.
There's a couple more ("Woof" is one of them, when she sees a picture of a dog) but that's all I can think of offhand.
____________________
Jack soccer update: He kicked the ball today! Twice! First thing he said to Mommy when we got home. Go, Jack!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tonight with Jack
When Jack naps at school, he goes to bed later than when he doesn't, so there's usually about an hour of playing downstairs followed by putting to bed activities. This was tonight.
- We dug out some new pajamas with elephants on them. Jack was very pleased.
- Jack brushed his teeth (he starts, we finish). "I'm bruffing my tongue," he observed at one point.
- We went downstairs and I told Jack we could play whatever he wanted. He said superheroes. He lined up all of his superheroes, most of which are little mini-figures, about 15 of them. He took one of them (the Hulk) and gave me another (Iron Man). We took turns knocking over the other figures with ours. At one point I brought in a little toy car to run one of them over, but Jack didn't care for that. "We don't use cars in this game," he explained. The last one we knocked over was Jack's Bionicle, this huge Transformer-lego-like figure he got in Ireland. We had to team up for that one.
(Aside: At dinner, Jack ate his chicken and drank his milk. "This will make me strong like the Hulk!" he said. The benefits of super-heroes, I love it.)
- Having knocked over all the figures, Jack now wanted them to go to sleep. He got a piece of cardboard for an art project and put it on the floor. He placed all the heroes on the cardboard in a circle, one by one. They just fit. It was like a Tetris game, with them all interlocked so as to fit on the board. Jack pointed out how Batman, who was the only one with a cape, "has a blanket."
- At one point while they were sleeping, the big dinosaur tried to eat them. The Hulk got up and, according to Jack, "killed him." I said, Well, he knocked him out. Jack: "But the dinosaur is BAD." I said, well, he's just doing what comes naturally to dinosaurs. So Jack agreed that the T-Rex was just knocked out.
- When Emily came down, Jack explained to her in detail how his superheroes should not be moved. We said OK.
- Jack wanted to draw a picture for me, and have me draw one for him. He said it would be a surprise, although he'd draw a T-Rex for me and I'd draw one for him. Here is Jack's T-Rex.
- At one point, out of the blue, Jack said "Do you know the Joker has parents?" I said, er, what? He said "The Joker has a Mom and a Dad. And his Dad is really strong." Who told you this? I asked. "Teddy. He knows ALL about Batman and Batman's friends."
- At bed we read Mouse Tales. Jack likes to skip one of the stories, the one with the Cloud shaped like a big cat. He says that one of the mice is asleep (there are seven mice for the seven stories).
- We then turn out the lights and talk. I asked Jack if he wanted to talk about his day. He said, "No, I want to talk about Spider-man's avilities." Avilities? I asked. "Yes...his avilities like strength...and shooting webs. And he can climb up walls, too."
I'd like to mention that only some of his current interest in superheroes is my fault. I mean after all, it's Teddy who knows all about Batman.
- We dug out some new pajamas with elephants on them. Jack was very pleased.
- Jack brushed his teeth (he starts, we finish). "I'm bruffing my tongue," he observed at one point.
- We went downstairs and I told Jack we could play whatever he wanted. He said superheroes. He lined up all of his superheroes, most of which are little mini-figures, about 15 of them. He took one of them (the Hulk) and gave me another (Iron Man). We took turns knocking over the other figures with ours. At one point I brought in a little toy car to run one of them over, but Jack didn't care for that. "We don't use cars in this game," he explained. The last one we knocked over was Jack's Bionicle, this huge Transformer-lego-like figure he got in Ireland. We had to team up for that one.
(Aside: At dinner, Jack ate his chicken and drank his milk. "This will make me strong like the Hulk!" he said. The benefits of super-heroes, I love it.)
- Having knocked over all the figures, Jack now wanted them to go to sleep. He got a piece of cardboard for an art project and put it on the floor. He placed all the heroes on the cardboard in a circle, one by one. They just fit. It was like a Tetris game, with them all interlocked so as to fit on the board. Jack pointed out how Batman, who was the only one with a cape, "has a blanket."
- At one point while they were sleeping, the big dinosaur tried to eat them. The Hulk got up and, according to Jack, "killed him." I said, Well, he knocked him out. Jack: "But the dinosaur is BAD." I said, well, he's just doing what comes naturally to dinosaurs. So Jack agreed that the T-Rex was just knocked out.
- When Emily came down, Jack explained to her in detail how his superheroes should not be moved. We said OK.
- Jack wanted to draw a picture for me, and have me draw one for him. He said it would be a surprise, although he'd draw a T-Rex for me and I'd draw one for him. Here is Jack's T-Rex.
- At one point, out of the blue, Jack said "Do you know the Joker has parents?" I said, er, what? He said "The Joker has a Mom and a Dad. And his Dad is really strong." Who told you this? I asked. "Teddy. He knows ALL about Batman and Batman's friends."
- At bed we read Mouse Tales. Jack likes to skip one of the stories, the one with the Cloud shaped like a big cat. He says that one of the mice is asleep (there are seven mice for the seven stories).
- We then turn out the lights and talk. I asked Jack if he wanted to talk about his day. He said, "No, I want to talk about Spider-man's avilities." Avilities? I asked. "Yes...his avilities like strength...and shooting webs. And he can climb up walls, too."
I'd like to mention that only some of his current interest in superheroes is my fault. I mean after all, it's Teddy who knows all about Batman.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Single parenting
Emily is on a deadline this week, which means she's working past 6 on a regular basis, which means we're not seeing her much when the kids are actually awake. Today she got home at 7:30, and my afternoon kind of went like this: Get Kate at 4:30, go to pediatrician to get her vaccination shot (in her shoulder, Kate kind of looked startled, followed by WAAHHHHHHH but then she calmed down and let the nurse put the band-aid on), then back to daycare to get Jack. Go home, make dinner, give kids dinner, clean kitchen while they play, take them upstairs, play hide and seek with Jack, wash Kate up and put her in her pajamas, give Jack his bath, get Jack dressed, brush Kate's teeth, read Kate stories while Jack plays, get ready to sing songs to Kate, Mommy comes home. And my kids were in daycare today, which is to say my day wasn't really difficult until about 4 (although I did go out and get Underjams for Jack and try to exchange his shin guards for a larger size and did a little writing for the Fantasy Index annual). And I'm not even really a single parent, Emily was just working late. Plus the dinner I made was scrambled eggs and toast, although I'd like to point out that I did cut up some red pepper, in part so I could make a face on Jack's plate with mini-bagel eyes, a scrambled egg mouth, and a red pepper nose. And he appreciated it. It's the little things.
So anyway, yeah, some people -- ones I know -- do this every day. And their day begins earlier than 4 because their kids aren't in daycare. And I know I'll be doing this tomorrow and all, since they're home all day on Fridays, but regardless. I don't know how people do this all the time.
Even in the limited time, I ended up yelling at Jack because he wanted to open the Mother's Day present he'd made in class for Mommy. And around the fifth time I explained to him that you don't open presents that you make for somebody else, I had a difficult time keeping my cool. And then Kate was throwing her milk on the floor, and then getting upset that it was on the floor and it was not in her hands. And I'm saying, well yes, Kate, you threw it there. And this was just in the two hours I was here alone with them.
So yeah, I'm pretty lucky, because Emily was just working late.
So anyway, yeah, some people -- ones I know -- do this every day. And their day begins earlier than 4 because their kids aren't in daycare. And I know I'll be doing this tomorrow and all, since they're home all day on Fridays, but regardless. I don't know how people do this all the time.
Even in the limited time, I ended up yelling at Jack because he wanted to open the Mother's Day present he'd made in class for Mommy. And around the fifth time I explained to him that you don't open presents that you make for somebody else, I had a difficult time keeping my cool. And then Kate was throwing her milk on the floor, and then getting upset that it was on the floor and it was not in her hands. And I'm saying, well yes, Kate, you threw it there. And this was just in the two hours I was here alone with them.
So yeah, I'm pretty lucky, because Emily was just working late.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Soccer
Jack's playing soccer; today was his second Saturday of it. The game was better than last week, in that today Jack actually ran after the ball some of the time. I'm thinking next week might be when he actually kicks the thing.
I'm an assistant coach, which basically means I need to try and act like my son isn't the only and the most important kid on the field. Obviously that's not completely possible. I swear that I have an actual memory of little league baseball in which my Dad was, for one game, the umpire at home plate. And I was slid home on a close play and he called me safe. And I'm pretty sure that I was safe, but that must have been a tough moment for him. Should he call me safe if I'm out so as not to devastate his young son? Should he call me out if I'm safe so as not to appear to have any favoritism? And by the way, I never swung at the ball in I think two years of little league, so if Jack doesn't kick the ball next week, I'm not going to give him too much grief.
Anyway, I'm not an umpire, I'm an assistant coach, and we don't actually keep score (although I guarantee every adult in attendance knew it was 4-4 when it ended, and would have been 8-4, us, if Teddy ever kicked the ball with his left foot). But the difficult part of the games, as I anticipated, was Jack tends to follow me around, because I'm his Dad, rather than run after the ball, and only listen to me as The Coach. And it was pretty bad the first week and pretty bad at times this week. And then at one point he was actually into it and in the vicinity of the ball near the goal, and somebody on his own team tripped him, presumably by accident but it's hard to be sure, and there were tears and all that. And I wanted to give him this line that Alfred gives Bruce Wayne from Batman Begins, saying "Why do we fall, Master Bruce?" And then: "So we learn to pick ourselves up." But I don't think it would have got through the tears, and plus Jack would have asked some completely unrelated question about Batman: "How does Batman FLY? Does he have wings? Is he a bad guy?"
The important thing is that I had no idea what it would be like to be standing on a soccer field surrounded by a group of swarming, yelling kids, some of them trying to get the ball, some of them trying to get away from the ball, some of them running off in search of their parents, some clinging to their parents on the sideline. I didn't know what it would be like to be angry at a little kid who tripped my son, or to be secretly pleased when he got tripped up later, even as I was over there trying to cheer him up (not, I might add, by discussing karma with him). It's just weird, as Emily just reminds me even as I write this, how quickly you can go from one life where you're just aimlessly walking through it to standing on a soccer field at 9:45 on a Saturday morning wearing a bright green shirt with a whistle around your neck. Watching your son and hoping to God he runs in the vicinity of the ball again (There he goes!) and doesn't end up doing a faceplant into the grass this time.
Jack actually does quite well with the ball in our yard, or in the pre-game practices. He runs up and kicks it, then kicks it again. He actually dribbles it. And, he's into it. He does it like it's the most natural thing in the world. I'm laughing and clapping and saying Wow, Jack, and he's just like, sure, Dad, whatever.
I can't say for sure if it will ever happen in a game, next week or a month from now. But I guess I'll keep going back to find out.
I'm an assistant coach, which basically means I need to try and act like my son isn't the only and the most important kid on the field. Obviously that's not completely possible. I swear that I have an actual memory of little league baseball in which my Dad was, for one game, the umpire at home plate. And I was slid home on a close play and he called me safe. And I'm pretty sure that I was safe, but that must have been a tough moment for him. Should he call me safe if I'm out so as not to devastate his young son? Should he call me out if I'm safe so as not to appear to have any favoritism? And by the way, I never swung at the ball in I think two years of little league, so if Jack doesn't kick the ball next week, I'm not going to give him too much grief.
Anyway, I'm not an umpire, I'm an assistant coach, and we don't actually keep score (although I guarantee every adult in attendance knew it was 4-4 when it ended, and would have been 8-4, us, if Teddy ever kicked the ball with his left foot). But the difficult part of the games, as I anticipated, was Jack tends to follow me around, because I'm his Dad, rather than run after the ball, and only listen to me as The Coach. And it was pretty bad the first week and pretty bad at times this week. And then at one point he was actually into it and in the vicinity of the ball near the goal, and somebody on his own team tripped him, presumably by accident but it's hard to be sure, and there were tears and all that. And I wanted to give him this line that Alfred gives Bruce Wayne from Batman Begins, saying "Why do we fall, Master Bruce?" And then: "So we learn to pick ourselves up." But I don't think it would have got through the tears, and plus Jack would have asked some completely unrelated question about Batman: "How does Batman FLY? Does he have wings? Is he a bad guy?"
The important thing is that I had no idea what it would be like to be standing on a soccer field surrounded by a group of swarming, yelling kids, some of them trying to get the ball, some of them trying to get away from the ball, some of them running off in search of their parents, some clinging to their parents on the sideline. I didn't know what it would be like to be angry at a little kid who tripped my son, or to be secretly pleased when he got tripped up later, even as I was over there trying to cheer him up (not, I might add, by discussing karma with him). It's just weird, as Emily just reminds me even as I write this, how quickly you can go from one life where you're just aimlessly walking through it to standing on a soccer field at 9:45 on a Saturday morning wearing a bright green shirt with a whistle around your neck. Watching your son and hoping to God he runs in the vicinity of the ball again (There he goes!) and doesn't end up doing a faceplant into the grass this time.
Jack actually does quite well with the ball in our yard, or in the pre-game practices. He runs up and kicks it, then kicks it again. He actually dribbles it. And, he's into it. He does it like it's the most natural thing in the world. I'm laughing and clapping and saying Wow, Jack, and he's just like, sure, Dad, whatever.
I can't say for sure if it will ever happen in a game, next week or a month from now. But I guess I'll keep going back to find out.
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