Dad Entry #199

I'm disenchanted with kids' sports right now, probably because I'm the baseball coach and we've lost three games in a row and none of them closely. Michael's team is off to a rough start and I can only blame myself. A few coaches in the league are supremely annoying, which is a price I won't pay, but most of the dads have class and their teams are even gingerly beating us like a drum. We must do better. Michael's doing his part; he tripled in his last game which means he crushed it way past the outfielders. There's no fence and Michael's no Rickey Henderson. He's pretty big and, to be blunt, he's slow as shit. (I love the appropriate cliches: He's like January molasses rolling uphill. Is there a piano on his back? Is he running in place? Is he pulling a plow? We could time him with a sundial. He's like a turtle in a windstorm. And so on.) Michael says his (protective) cup really bothers him. He says he needs a bigger one.

I was looking over a pile of graded homework the kids brought home. I try to review it with them when it's fresh, but sometimes it accumulates. They are both great students and I'm unsparing with my compliments, lavish to the point of dulling the impact of praise, I'm afraid. But I express and emphasize another perspective, also: I'm adamant they're doing a great service for themselves, first and foremost. It's a valuable gift to their future selves, and the 'proud parents' part is just a happy bonus. I even dropped a nifty Buddha quote on Michael, which I know he appreciated: "As an irrigator guides water to his fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their minds."

Megan had her First Communion last weekend. Everything about it was beautiful. We celebrated with family and friends, and she received numerous generous gifts. It's a meaningful and powerful ritual to me, given to us by someone whose life, mission, and message are also meaningful and powerful to me. He's undeniably famous, as well, and he's been a celebrity for a really long time. If you prefer to look at it that way :)