Keeping Alex Occupied During Jack’s Ball Game

First, some housekeeping: I am up to 802 follower/facebook fans. Thanks for all your help. Just under 200 to go!

During baseball season, we end up at the little league field a lot watching Jack. The games take about 2 hours. Here are some key strategies for keeping Alex occupied:

1)    Feed him

This one is obvious. Alex is a major sweet tooth. So hand him 50 cents and tell him he can go to the snack bar and get Starburst. He will run to the snack bar (5 minutes) find out the Starburst cost a dollar (5 min), run back to demand another 50 cents (5 minutes), back to the snack bar (5 min)…you get the point.

2)    Gymnastics

Alex is a freakishly talented gymnast. He can do back bends, splits, one-handed cartwheels. There are often older sisters at the game (ranging from 5^th to 8^th grade) who will be delighted by this cute little boy doing tricks. Alex can spend half the game performing for any audience who will watch.

3)    Grass sliding

There is a small hill near the field. Alex will go to the top, lay on his belly, and slide down head-first like a penguin entering the water. He can do this again and again. The downside is that he will be streaked with grass stains so badly it looks like the Jolly Green Giant used him as toilet paper.

4) Let him keep book

One of the coaches is the father of Jack’s best friend. This coach knows Alex well, and brings Alex into their dugout to keep book. This is the best way to keep Alex occupied. He loves being in the dugout with all the older kids, and he loves the responsibility of this official job. Each inning he will dutifully run over to the other team’s book keeper to confirm pitch count and score.

And for his efforts, the coach awarded the game ball to…

OK…I promise I’ll talk professional baseball soon. I’m headed to Denver for work and the Rockies are in town. Plus I’ve got a great book review to post.