As much as I try not to force my children into activities, I find that I sign up Balin for far more activities than I did for Arthur when he was Balin's age. Part of it is because Arthur is so reluctant to try anything new. Part of it is because when Arthur was Balin's age, Balin was an infant and I was so busy trying to keep well-rested and sane. I didn't really have time to drive Arthur all over the place for five different activities. Was that a mistake? I'm not sure. In any case, Balin's been signed up for t-ball.
I also offered to sign Arthur up for baseball, but he refused. Adamantly.
I wasn't sure what to expect. Balin's excited about it and was disappointed when the first two weeks were cancelled due to weather. When we finally got to a practice, he (like most kids his age) liked batting and throwing much more than catching. Arthur discovered that when you aren't signed up for a sport with your younger brother, there isn't much to do. (Luckily, his classmate Masson's younger brother was on Balin's team, so throughout practice Arthur and Masson played together.) Later, he complained that he wanted to play baseball.
Despite all that, Arthur was a big help getting Balin to participate. There were moments that he complained, "I don't want to," but Arthur would take his hand and gently lead him to the line where the kids had gathered to catch grounders. It always melts my heart when they play so well together.
Don't you love Balin's dress - I mean, shirt? I just about died when he put it on. He's one of the smaller kids on his team. I'm sure it was far cheaper for the Y to print out the standard S-M-L kid's shirts. No matter. I'll just take it in.
Go Phillies!
Blessed be.
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