What Happens When Baseball Season Ends?
By Sarah McDonald
Since April, my large family has been engulfed in playground baseball and softball seasons. Combine that six-days-a-week (yes, six) schedule with a travel ball team schedule and weeklong tournaments out of state, and baseball was a pretty all-encompassing fixture in my house.
Please do not get me wrong – I love it! My children seem to love it, too. I love watching my boys play baseball – it was my 6-year-old’s very first season – and my older daughter play softball.
My little Happy Face is at an age where he is a good sport through it all. He’s affectionately known to teammates as a little cheerleader. We’ve even managed to convert my husband into a baseball fan! It does, however, take its toll on quality family time.
In the last few weeks, baseball season came to a close (more abruptly than we anticipated), though a few All-Star softball games remain on my girl’s calendar.
With the break in baseball season comes a whole lot more time than we realized, and it is a beautiful gift to behold.
It means more family time with ALL of us around the table. It means a little less back and forth to the fields for games and practices. It means a little more time for prayer individually and as a family. It means brothers building Lego creations, and dad having time to not only hear the full explanation of what each creation can do, but offer suggestions and improvements that make our boys think and fully appreciate their dad’s creativity and enthusiasm.
Soon enough, our household will be blessed with a new arrival, the start of the school year and new sports schedules (fall baseball included). Until then, I will relish this special time of relative calm and quality family time as we strive to grow in relationship with Christ and with one another.
