The Baseball Field

Aiden returned home after playing with a friend, and I said “Tina called…”  His ears perked up.  Tina is a fellow baseball mom.  “And?” he answered.  “And, there is a tournament this weekend, their team is short some players, they want to know….”

“I’LL DO IT!”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“They want to know if I can play.  I want to play.”

The baseball field is more home to Aiden than his actual house.  There, he is a completely different kid.  Confident, focused, determined.  The same kid who is too shy to give his own order in a restaurant is actually cocky standing on first base.  This is his comfort zone.  His obsession.  His whole world.

“Probably a bye on Friday, double header on Saturday, game on Sunday.  You have practice with your team Saturday morning.”

“I said I want to do it.”

I thought I had a completely free weekend.  Yes, practice Saturday, but that is 9 am and I won’t be awake yet so it doesn’t count.  Free weekends are rare for me.  And now they’re even rarer.  However, watching a child, who struggles in other parts of his life, excel and be so happy on the field is something I would never deny him no matter how many free weekends I have to give up.

That’s why they have coffee.