Sports with Jack and Kate

Today I played golf with my Dad in the morning. Then in the afternoon, I played golf with Jack.

Emily thought Jack was old enough that we could bring him up and he could putt a little on the green at the golf club. In fact, though, Dad also was able to borrow a kid-sized driver so we got some range balls and went out to the driving range. And, it was great. I stood behind Jack and helped him to set his stance and swing. My Dad came up with the bucket of range balls and said it was great to just walk up and see us there.

Jack was OK with me standing behind him, hands on the club over his, swinging and hitting a few that way. We even got a few in the air. Then Jack tried a few on his own, which was hit or miss. His swings were sometimes lunges, feet stepping around as he swung and hit the turf -- but sometimes, when he kept his feet still, he hit it straight and stopped to watch, just like he'd been doing it all his life. He kept things interesting by hitting off three different tee boxes at the range.

Later, we putted about 5 or 6 balls on the green. This time, he was less inclined for help. Actually he didn't care that much about style or form. He just liked getting the balls in the hole, then pulling up the tee so they all exploded out onto the green. We did this for a good 15 minutes. At one point I heard someone saying to a friend, "THAT's the age to start 'em at."

I don't know which of us got more out of the whole thing - Jack, me, my Dad.

At home that afternoon, we played some in the yard. A ball, a bat, a couple of scoopy things and another ball. Kate and Emily were also out for it. That was kind of funny. Kate mostly liked to take both balls and run in her herky-jerky style, laughing, across the lawn. Jack liked being "the runner" in baseball -- not hitting, not pitching, but running after hit balls. I think he was pretty out of breath at the end of it all. (Although he did hit some at the end, which was good to see.) And nobody got hit by a golf club, bat, or scoopy thing all day.