May 9

There was really nothing particularly awesome about Isaac's baseball game this afternoon. We had an extra-early start time, and as a result, we almost didn't have enough kids to play. (We did; kid number nine waltzed in five minutes before go-time.) Pre-game practice was truncated, I wound up needing to serve as scorekeeper, and it all felt... unsettled. Harried. Too fast. And then once the game started, they didn't play well. But there was one moment that made me smile.

After Isaac reached base at one point (he went 2 for 2 with a walk, so not a bad outing for him at all in spite of it all), he started waving his arms around. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was trying to get my attention from afar. I mouthed "what?" at him, and between pitches, he mouthed something back at me that I couldn't decipher. A few more "what"s followed until I finally figured out what he meant: he was trying to tell me that his friend Max was pitching for the other team. Once I finally nodded and gave the thumbs up sign, he grinned.

It stinks to lose as often as his team loses. But I love that, in that moment, he brought me back to the reality that playing with friends --and having fun playing with friends-- is what really matters when you're a kid playing ball.