Be a man

My son Neil is training to be a man. It is serious business to this 5-year-old. I can see him practicing his manhood by making moves, imitating conversations, checking himself out in the mirror.

In his mind, he is one of the big guys when he slings his baseball bag (which is bigger than he is) over his shoulder and gives his t-ball coach a wink and a nod as he says "Good practice coach!" Then he saunters off as he imagines real baseball players do. I feel like I should take him out for a beer.

He has asked me to refer to him as Big Papi (yes, David Ortiz of the Red Sox player). That's the number he chose for his t-ball jersey too.

He talks about himself in the third person, "Neil Yerem hits a home run!" "Neil Yerem dives for the ball."

Manhood is apparently narrated. 

Baseball has been very good to me

Baseball season starts soon! We have two players in our house this year. The youngest will play t-ball. It's his very first team sport, and he can hardly contain himself. The oldest is old-hat at this. He is just thrilled to get to play, though he's a little dubious of the fact that his younger brother is going to be sharing the sports spotlight.

The youngest is excited about getting a cup. Yep. He cannot wait to wear an athletic supporter. I'm not sure they are required in t-ball, but they are required for Neil.

On Monday, the oldest was suiting up for his first practice and Neil insisted on suiting up too. I was filling water bottles in the kitchen when I looked into the family room to find a buck-naked 5-year-old holding his cup over his private area. He turned to me with a straight face and asked how it was supposed to stay on... This might be the highlight of the week. Of course, who knows what will happen when t-ball practice actually starts.