Mudcats' last bats

Tonight is Brooklynn's last T-Ball game of the season. It has been so so so much fun. It really pays to sign your kid up for a team surrounded by your friends. Every game and practice was like a little get-together.
And, the kids really learned a lot! I mean, if tonight were to be your first game you might think, looks like any other T-ball game: kids missing balls that roll slowly past, two inches from their unwavering gloves, balls on T's - swung at and missed entirely, base runners frozen in place on the bag until they hear their name yelled for the eleventh time to run. But you had to have seen this team on day one. Most of our players had never held a T-ball before; gloves were bought the first day of practice, and the whole concept of first base, which so many of us take completely for granted, was a completely new concept. For a few of these guys it was the first time they'd been around a group of kids they didn't know. These days the kids take turns. When they come in from fielding, they take off their hats and gloves and wait to be told they're on deck to find a helmet and bat. They know where first is when they hit the ball, and they follow running to first with running to each of the other bases, in order. And the biggest change is that, when the ball is hit by the other team, our members field it according to their position. (For the first few games any ball hit was thought to be the sole property of every member on the field, regardless of who was closest, got there first, or was actually holding it in their glove.) And, they not only field it when appropriate, they follow that up with a throw to first!
And, more than all the T-ball rules, they learned a lot of social rules: taking turns, good sportsmanship, patience, hard work, sticking with your obligations as a member of a team. Plus, they got to feel really important. They got to be the stars of their family each week. Every Saturday the kids' parents and siblings focused all the attention on these three to six year olds while they played their best. You could tell it helped them to see just how important they are.
I knew I was going to enjoy the sports/dance/events ages, but I had no idea how fun it was going to be.