This past spring Gabriel has been participating in baseball.
Being from the mid-west and still rookies at the whole kids-in-sports mind-frame, we had no idea how big of a deal spring
baseball is here in the desert. Seriously, baseball here starts as early as a kid
can stand on his/her own two fall and not fall over from lack of balance.
Needless to say, Gabriel has been playing baseball since some of our first days
together. He loves it. He loves all sports.
He’s lucky in that he has a natural talent where his hands
seems to do exactly what they are supposed to, where his reaction is fast enough
to catch balls he shouldn’t be catching at his age, and that he can hit the ball
“all the way to the fence” as he likes to tell me. We are very proud of him.
It’s fun to watch him play because he’s like a Golden Retriever chasing a ball.
Seriously, that is how one of his first coaches described him. Where ever the
ball is, that’s where Gabriel wants to be. And although he’s gotten so much
better at staying in his position, he’s always the first one on the field, back
in the dugout and ready to bat at the changing of the innings. He lives for
sports, for baseball. When he’s not at practice, which seems to be almost every
other night, he’s in our tiny back yard pitching balls at the back fence,
practicing his bunting skills (again because there is no room to practice actual
hitting) or he’s asking to go to the grass so he can really let them rip.
It has also been a gift for Jarrett who can relive his
childhood dreams of playing the All-American sport. Jarrett has been able to be the
coach or assistant coach to almost all the teams Gabriel has been on, and
secretly he’s confided in me that many of the dad’s ask him what he did to make
Gabriel so good. It’s funny, because in reality we can’t take the credit. Yes,
Jarrett does go practice with him and try’s to support his love as much as time
allows, but the real secret to the question the dads are asking is… we haven’t
done anything. It’s one of his natural gifts.
It’s wonderful to see his passion sparked and how he’s so
interested in learning all that he can. When baseball is on TV he’s glued to
it, reporting over the announcer to us about what each player did, the
statistics of each team and about what he would have done, if he was on the
team. Again, if only he could remember his school reading books, like he can
sport statistics.
And so with the rising triple digit temperatures, the spring
season of baseball is winding down. In fact just this past weekend, Gabriel’s
team finished up their season and after their last game, their coaches talked
individually about each of the players and highlights from all of their games
(and yes there were a lot of them). Unfortunately Michael, Isabelle and I had
gone home already because the game was already hours past bedtime, and Isabelle
had had enough (insert: seriously meltdown moment to be described later) so I
didn’t get to hear what the coach had said.
At home though, when Gabriel and Dad arrived, I could tell
Gabriel was excited to share the news because in typical excitement fashion
behavior… I heard the van door… SLAM, then the door from the garage… SLAM,
racing footsteps then the laundry room door… SLAM and within seconds, he was at
my waist, trying his best to spit the words out. Breathing heavily from racing
he said, “MOM- GUESS WHAT?!?!?!” in a high pitched, screeching tone. Trying to
sound just as excited, I asked back, “WHAT Gabriel!?!?!?” “MOM- I was selected
at the team VPM!!!! Can you believe it?” Now looking for Jarrett to come into
the kitchen for back up, and desperately racking my brain for the meaning of the baseball
term VPM. Thankfully, he quickly realized what he had spit out, came out
incorrectly he said, “Not VMP Mom, I mean MPV” and it was then that I realized
he meant to say MVP! “Oh I said, Gabriel you were selected to be the “MVP?” at
which point we both spit out the acronym at the same time. “Mom”, he said,
“They selected me to be the Most Valuable Player.” We celebrated with high
fives, hugs and phone calls to grandparents to share the exciting news.
While Gabriel repeated the three letters in the correct order
time and time again, I soon realized I was going to be hearing this word
frequently in the next few days. While we told him it was okay to tell his
family and to be very proud of himself, we didn’t’ want him to sound like he was
bragging or arrogant to the other players and his friends. He responded with
his typical I’m-7-and-know-everything attitude, “I know mom, baseball is a team
sport.” We celebrated again.
And so all weekend, anytime there was something he wanted to
do, something to buy or something special treat, I’d hear him ask, “Mom- can I
play my video game since I’m the MVP. Mom-can I eat that whole bag of candy,
remember I am the MVP. I get to go stay up late, because I’m the MVP, right?”
Unfortunately he quickly learned, the benefits of being the MVP, don’t reach too
far outside of the field.
But super proud we are, and we can’t wait to see him continue
to follow in his passion, for it truly is something he loves. He’s already
talking about fall ball, while mom and dad try to figure out the schedule and
how to make it work. I guess that’s just one of the other many qualities of
being a parent. The rewards of watching your child thrive in something that is
their passion, is so enjoyable, you’d do almost anything to help them continue to
live in that moment. It doesn’t matter that you bake in the sun while it’s 105
degrees , or that you’ve been asked by the opposite teams spectators to keep
your littlest child quiet or that your other child (who cares less about
sports) has ant bites all up and down his legs from digging in the dirt (to
pass the time away from yet another baseball game). Its about sacrifices and
rewards and as a family you celebrate them all together.
Way to go MVP, we are so proud of you. We love you Gabriel.
….your biggest fan club (Mom, Dad, Michael and Isabelle)
angie
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