mom. when can i play baseball again?? this question is the million dollar daily asked question by our sweet logan. he told me last night going to bed, mom- i just miss hitting the ball hard! and being able to throw the baseball really far! my mama heart knew right then that we needed to do something about that.
this year is a lot of transition, a lot of unknowns for our family. i recognize that as crazy as it feels for me, the adult who has most of the information and is making the decisions, these little people of ours are feeling that craziness too. i am allowing that space for them to feel these emotions of change. i am trying to help settle things for them where i can. sometimes this means a little one on one time, some extra time together before bed, a special activity just for them, their favorite food or snack- anything that i can do to help them feel comforted.
so this morning, i knew we’d be playing baseball! y’all, i don’t play baseball. i don’t catch balls. i am terrified of things flying at my face. i don’t pitch- hello! a ball is gonna then be hit and come flying back at you! but for logan, i will. i may wear his helmet, but i will do it. we walked to the park near our house, the kids were all happy swinging and running and going down the slides and logan and i grabbed his ball. i pitched for him. some were hittable near the strike box, and some were so far out we both just had to laugh. but i pitched again and again and again. then i threw the ball so he could catch- a lot of grounders and crazy catches but i kept throwing. then he would throw as hard as he could and i would run to go get it. yep, this kid has a much better arm than i do! i am not afraid to admit that. but we did it over and over and over until we had to get everyone home for lunch, before the rain came.
as he packed up his baseball bag, he smiled at me so sweetly and said- thanks mom for playing baseball with me. that was so fun. his smile, in that moment, made the whole day.
i am not a pitcher. i don’t play baseball. but guess what, i try and i am willing to do whatever i can to try and be the best mom for these kids. isn’t that what being a mother is all about? giving our all for these sweet little people that hold our hearts? and then, after giving our all, trusting god’s grace to do the rest.
mommy, mama, mom, mothers- you’re doing a great job. you show up day after day and wipe those noses and bums, cook that 1 millionth meal, clean up countless legos and cars and hatchimals, sing one more song, say one more pray, and give one more big kiss. that’s what they’ll remember. not if our house was clean or what they ate for dinner. they’ll remember that we showed up, we tried, we loved, we did our best.
