Softball

A has decided to try softball.

This is pretty groundbreaking news in our household. Ben and I have encouraged both A and E to try a variety of activities, and since the age of 3, A has tried ballet, gymnastics, painting, clay sculpting, theater, swimming, and piano. Some of these she's done once, and some she's done multiple times, or even pretty consistently. Following in my footsteps, however, she has shied away from any form of team sport.

When the Little League flyer came home in her backpack a couple of weeks ago, the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Hey . . . are you interested in playing tee-ball?"
A: "I don't think so."
Me: "Okay." And the flyer was chucked into the recycle bin.

Then we learned that A's good friend H was going to sign up. I didn't expect this to sway her, as H played soccer in the fall and all but begged A to join, and she was steadfast in her refusal. (I did take A to watch one of H's soccer games, and she admitted it looked kind of fun.) So perhaps A was reflecting on that and feeling some regrets, or perhaps something about softball is more appealing than soccer, or perhaps it's just that she's half-a-year older now and that much more confident. But over the past week, A asked more questions about Little League, such as - "will the teams be all girls?" "how old will they be?" "would my team all be from my school?" (The answers are yes, 6-7 years, and mostly.)

Our area's Little League was holding a "softball open gym" event last night where players from previous years could come brush up on their skills, and potential new players could come check it out. So Ben took A, and she came home bubbling about softball and asking that we sign her up!

It's uncharted territory for our big girl, and we're happy and so proud of her for trying something new. She's all signed up, set to begin in April, and tonight we went to pick out a glove. (She had a beloved purple glove from her aunt & uncle that we've used when playing in the backyard, but when we dug it out we discovered that she's grown quite a bit! I think it was a 3rd or 4th birthday gift.) Thankfully, we were able to find another purple-hued glove amidst the massive selection at Dick's Sporting Goods. On the way out of the store with our purchases, we noticed this life-sized cutout of OSU basketball coach Craig Robinson (go BEAVS!), a.k.a. the First Uncle, so the kids posed for a photo with him.

As a side note, today I overheard A and H discussing softball, and among other things, they were speculating about what the uniforms might look like. H said hopefully, "Maybe they'll be skirts!" I couldn't help but laugh and think that these precious girls are two peas in a pod!