A Mom Always Knows & Aren't I Civil?

We got home from school last night, and I realized that I didn't have any milk in the house. Now, that's not such a big deal, as none of us really like milk, but we were scheduled to have mashed potatoes for dinner. Since I'm such a gourmet, the instant mashed tators I'd bought needed milk instead of water to make. That meant I was off to the grocery store after giving the boys instructions to "Get Your Homework DONE!".

I wasn't gone ten minutes. I got back and Mr. A is on the phone with his dad, who had apparently called 3 times while I was gone. Three times!

Mr. A wanted to know if he could go out to dinner with his dad. Part of me wanted to tell him absolutely not, but that's the mean and petty part, so I told him I didn't care. I'm nothing if not gracious. Ha! Mr. A proceeded to tell his dad that was okay and hung up. I asked when his dad would be there, and Mr. A says that he just pulled in the drive. Hello?!?!?! It's a quarter after four in the afternoon.

Apparently, X wasn't sure how long it would take him to cross the bridge that separates his town from the rest of civilization now that it is closed except for one small lane that has to serve 50,000 commuters a day. The hour he gave himself as extra time was just that...extra time, which is why he was on my doorstep way before he was expected.

Mr. A hadn't even started getting ready for his ball game, so I went out to the car and invited X and his daughter into the house to wait. Mr. A is a teenager, so him getting ready could take 3 minutes to 30. They stood in the foyer like bumps and I kept having to brush past on my way to find whatever it was that Mr. A had lost, so I finally told them that they were more than welcome to go sit upstairs on the couch and wait. I'm not exactly sure which one of us was more surprised by my civility, but the invitation had been offered. X sat and watched me race around to help Mr. A, cook dinner and correct spelling all at the same time. I wanted to smack him and ask him to at least correct the spelling, but I didn't...see, civility!

So, they finally left for Mr. A's game and Bugaboo and I scarfed up our yummy instant potatoes before heading off to soccer. We had to cross the same bridge and had a little more trouble than X did, but we were still on time.

Bugaboo and his team won their game, and they were all happy. I raced him off the field as fast as I could to see if I couldn't catch the tail end of Mr. A's game.

Estimations were it would take 30 minutes to cross the bridge back to civilization, so I called X to tell him I didn't think we'd make it. It was already 7:10, and the ball field was at least 30 minutes from the OTHER side of the bridge. I was told that it was only the top of the second inning (in an hour and ten minutes????) and they were losing, so I said I'd see how quick we got across the bridge.

Well, we got across and I got us to the game by the top of the fourth. We walked up just as Mr. A made a spectacular catch in center field. The boys were all pumped because they'd managed to get ahead since I'd talked to X.

It came time for Mr. A to get up to bat and I walked up to where X and another of the dads were standing. I asked X if he'd been hit by a pitch yet. The answer was no and I informed them both that he'd get hit this time. The other dad just looked at me. I laughed and said that it was starting to appear that Mr. A didn't think it was a game if he hadn't gotten hit by a pitch at least once.

Mr. A took the first two balls, swung at the next, ducked down to miss getting hit for pitch four and was nailed in the head by pitch five. I just laughed. X looked at me and just shook his head. The other dad gave a shocked little laugh and said, "You weren't kidding, were you?" Um...No.

A mom always knows.

Until later...

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

Last night was the first regular season game for Mr. A and his team. It was over the river, but not through the woods and Grandmother's house was no where to be seen, but we got there.

The boys were raring to play. They'd practiced, they'd improved and they wanted to show what they were made of. And they did. They looked so wonderful out there...the first three innings, Mr. A was on first base. The pitcher faced a total of 10 batters in those first innings (quite a change from the Early Bird Tourney) and Mr. A was part of all nine of the outs, two of which were very close.

The bats were swinging...and connecting too. Mr. A managed to once again get hit by a pitch. I'm starting to believe that he thinks a game isn't complete without getting to base at least once in that manner.

Starting in the fourth inning, Mr. A was catching. He's a good catcher, with good blocking abilities for those dirt pitches, but he needs to coil that spring a little tighter and jump out of the crouch faster. The new pitcher was wonderful that first inning and with a 3-0 lead, everyone was feeling good.

Unfortunately, the pitcher lost his momentum and control starting in the fifth, and a few early season miscues gave the other team a 4-3 edge. The boys were feeling a little down, but the coaches rallied them, and they came back out with swinging bats at the top of the sixth. We pulled ahead 6-4 and were racing to get the game in before the ump called it off because of the approaching dark.

Whatever edge the boys pulled back out during the top of the sixth they lost again, and the game ended up 7-6. All in all, they did a wonderful job, and I hope they all know that they can be pleased with their performance.

Sadly, the umping wasn't the best. The strike zone was impossible to figure out, and I was sitting directly behind home plate, so I had a very good view of what was being thrown. Then some of the parents got into it with the ump during the sixth, and that was all she wrote. I really believe that some of the calls the ump made that inning were a direct result of the parental shouting. I'd bet you can't figure out exactly which of the parents almost got booted from the fields, can you? Not me! The coaches were told however, to control the other 'rent that the boys can lay claim too, and I kept muttering under my breath for him to SHUT. THE. HELL. UP.

The boys and I discussed such behavior on the way home. I let them know that the irritation and disgust that a parent has is okay, but it is never okay for a parent to directly challenge the officiating. If anyone should be challenging that, it should be the coaches, and while the coach was upset, and did talk to the ump, he didn't make a major stink. I made sure both the boys knew that should either of them display such behavior in front of me, there would be consequences.

It's early in the season though, so hopefully this was just opening jitters...but I'm not holding my breath on that...

Until later...

Keeping My Tongue In My Head...

I've been AWOL on my blog for quite a few days...Not due to a crazy, hectic life (although there was some of that) or an illness, but because I don't think I could keep a civil tongue in my head. So instead of spewing venom and hate all over my blog, I stayed away.

It's hard sometimes to know exactly what to post and what not to post here. Yes, I want this to be a chronicle of my life with the boys, but how much of that do I share with the internets?

I could go on and on telling you about how horrible I think a certain male is being, but really, what good will that do? And I've tried, LORD how I've tried, to remember that he is the boys' father, and as such deserves a modicum of civility and respect from me. Especially when the boys might hear me talking, or see what I've written. In the past ten years, I've done my best to keep from pushing my frustration and irritation with him onto my boys.

Maybe some day, they'll see that for the gift that it is. I hope they do, because when I got divorced, I vowed to keep it about THEM, not about me or my feelings and irritations.

So, that's why I've been away. I hope you've been good while I've been gone.

Until later...