Conquering Fears

Tuesday was a big day in Evan’s life. After what I am sure has seemed like decades to Evan, he is finally old enough to play a sport! T-ball time!

There was only one thing that could put a damper on the big event… rain. And it did. It rained a little around 5ish and then stopped but it was cloudy. Evan is a pretty tough kid, except when it comes to rain. His fear of storms has turned into a fear of all rain since, in his mind, if there is a dark cloud anywhere then lightning and thunder are not far behind. A cloud in the sky that is not pure white can lead to a day full of constant weather questions, frantic pleas to not have to leave the house, and the need for constant reassurance that rain is a good thing. Just to get him to smile for these pictures, taken right before we left, I had to resort to desperate measures and say words that would make a four year old boy laugh (and three year old sisters tattle)... think bodily functions but not ones you would get your mouth washed with soap for.

It started raining on the way to the field but the coach wanted to practice anyway. Evan didn’t want to get out of the car but finally did. I told him if there was any thunder or lightning we would leave. The coach started to have the kids run the bases and he wasn’t even to first base yet when, “Boom!” I expected a hysterical child to come running to me but all I got was a quick glance… I think since the rest of the team was still playing he felt he needed to too. They finished running the bases and then she put them in positions on the field. Evan was sent out to play outfield (you can tell he has played with big kids a lot because I highly doubt any ball would make it half the distance he was at). Before anyone could even tell him to move in a bit, the rain came down harder and the coach called it quits. Evan was the first one off the field to go home by a mile but I was proud of him for sticking it out as long as he did. He was still not calm about the rain though and was totally willing to skip the promised McDonald’s dinner because he just wanted to go home. Hopefully the sun will shine bright next time.

He looked so cute handsome and athletic in his jersey and baseball hat and pants, with his bat bag on his back. I told him this at the end of the evening and he said, "You know the boy in the red? He looked good too." That boy was also dressed in baseball attire head to toe (they were the only two not in shorts), including cleats. Considering how distracted Evan was, I can't believe he noticed anyone else.

As a side note, there are 9 kids on the team and out of the parents there, I coached 3 of them, including Evan’s coach, when they were in 8th grade. I used an extra dose of anti-wrinkle cream last night!