Baseball Camp

As most of you know my brother works here in Houston at Baseball USA.  So we were talking the other day and he said that I could bring Matt to the hitting camp on Tues.  Matt is too young to participate in the camp but Coach/Uncle Jay was leading the camp so we thought we'd give it a shot.  When I told Matt about it he was so excited.  I can't tell you how much this child loves to play baseball.  He ran to pick out his baseball clothes and pack his bag with just the right baseball gear. 

On the drive over I explained that he would be the youngest and had to listen carefully, say yes sir to his coaches and pay attention at all times.  The camp started Monday so he was already a day behind, plus about 2 years younger than the youngest kid out there.  I told him if he did good we could come back on Wed.  Well...Matt was a baseball camp soldier.  He was so focused and tried SO hard.  He was a completely different kid than I have had in my presence 24/7 for the past 2 months.  I couldn't believe this was the same kid that has been driving me crazy at home because bless his heart, he can't still for a second.  Baseball camp Matt stood still, ran to be first in line, ran into and out of the batting cages when it was his turn as if his life depended on him getting into the batters box in a matter of seconds.  When the coaches shouted "ball pick up" he ran into the cage, tore his helmet off and started collecting as many balls as possible and put them in his helmet (something he learned from intently watching the others).  I could not have been more proud. 

I love sports and am so excited for these moments that I can share with Matt.  What I am not ready for is the disappointment that sports can bring too.  Matt did pretty well compared to the other kids considering the age difference.  But on the first day one of the coaches was pitching to him and it was a little faster than he's used to.  He missed every single ball.  The look of disappointment on his face as he walked out of the cage was heart breaking.  I was so proud that he did not 1) cry, 2) get frustrated or 3) want to quit.  He sat right back down and watched even more intently.  The next time he got in the cage he tried even harder and managed to hit about 50% of the pitches.  I was so proud of him. 

Matt was so serious the entire day that I stopped to ask him if he was having fun.  He looked so nervous.  He said yes and quietly asked, "Mom can we please come tomorrow?"...so I said of course!  That night he came home and practiced.  When Dad came home he told him about camp and said, "Dad if I ask Mom to take me to camp on Saturday can you come watch me since you don't have to work?".  So cute!  So Dad made time to come watch on Wed. 

When we said our thank you prayers that night and Matt said, "thank you God for letting me go to baseball camp even though I'm not 6" and "thank you God for helping me to listen to my coaches".  I had the best day with him that day.  It was the same feeling I had taking Marlie to ballet for the first time.  It was awesome! 

It's the morning of Day 2 and I told Matt that he had 2 strikes...one more strike and no baseball camp (of course I'm praying at this point that we don't do something bad enough to force me to call strike 3 because I know how bad he wants to go back to camp).  All of a sudden Marlie starts crying, "I want to go to baseball camp!"  Miss Marlie was so good each day and worked on her batting stance too!

Thank you to Uncle Jay for letting us come to camp.  You have no idea how much that meant to Matt.  He is already asking when he can go back.  And thank you to Coach Flowers and Coach Gerald for being so kind and patient.