It's Thursday?

Man... time is flying by so fast lately!

It's really windy and chilly here today, and my first thoughts were, "Wow. It's really getting cold already!" But then I realized that it is October 23rd. November is almost here, and it kind of shocked me! I mean 2008 will be over before we know it. I guess that's what happens as you get older.

Things are continuing to go well here on the homefront!

We had a lot of fun at Cooper's field trip. All of the kids in his class were so cute and having such a great time. I had all the little girls wanting to sit next to me on the bus! :) Adam said it was because they thought I was the cool 2nd grader. Thanks Adam! :)

One of the best things happened this week as well.... my little man Cooper finally hit the baseball!! I swear, even as I wrote that, it continues to feel like relief. :) This is his second season. He played T-ball in the Spring as a 5 year old. Then he was moved up to regular baseball this fall for 5-6 year olds. But most of the kids he's playing with are actually in their 5th or 6th season because they started at early 4! He got to where he could hit off of the coach towards the end of last season and this season his first hit was Monday at practice. We've been at it now for almost 2 months with nothing but strike-outs and disappointment. I am not disappointed in Cooper, NO... It's been him disappointed in himself and the sport. And I have to tell you, as his mother it has been SOOOO hard.

It greatly saddens me how competitive sports are for our little people these days. He's 5 and has to play baseball with the same rules as the Big Leaguers. He even had a game a few weeks ago that ended up being called because of the mercy rule. That meant he only had one chance to bat the entire game. WHAT?? Who cares? I mean, they don't care if it's 100-0. They just want to play and have fun! But no... there's the play-offs that we must get ready for after the regular season. I'm sorry... but in my opinion, it's absolutely ridiculous!

I admit that for most of this season, I thought oh... it's our league, our team, the sport of baseball. And then as I spoke with the other mothers on the team last night at practice and realized there was another 5-6yr old team in our league that practiced 4-5 days/week, and their sons that played football at the age of 7 and 8 practiced 3 nights a week for 2 hours a night, and listened to this one mother scramble to get her child registered on some USA Tennis registration... I was hit with a big reality. This is what it's come to I think for our kids. No matter what sport, what activity and apparently beginning at the age of pre-school, it's all about winning and being so much better than everyone else. And I'm just sad about it.

I mean the alternative is to not let them be involved at all. That's no good either. But what do you do when your 5 year old leaves his baseball game boo-hooing because in his words he is "such a loser." I have NEVER used that word in my household. The entire season we knew that Cooper was struggling and made it very clear that as long as he tried his hardest and had fun, THAT is what made him a winner! But they aren't stupid. They know who wins and who loses. Cooper was well aware that he was the only kid not to have hit the ball yet.

I love sports! Always have, and obviously have a competitive spirit myself as I love to compete. But when I look around to realize that our children are being put under severe pressure in kindergarten to win at the expense of their school work, and their self-esteem, I'm kind of at a loss.

I'm just glad for now that he has found some success with it. Something just sort of finally clicked. Since Monday, every time he heads up to bat, he's hit the ball, and he has a completely different outlook on baseball now. We have a game tonight and I so desperately just want to see him make it to first base. Because he so deserves it. And I don't ever want for him to think of himself as a "loser." It's one thing to lose. We all do quite a bit. It's another thing to be a LOSER. What a horrible thing.

So I kind of went off on a tangent here! But I'll put in an update as to how the game turns out. I don't care if we win or lose. I could care less about the playoffs, or our record. I just want my little slugger to get out there and have some fun! Wish us luck!