Team Mom

How I missed the sign up sheets at school, the ads in the paper and the placards posted all over town for an entire month, shows you what kind of vacuum I was living in. I almost blew it by not registering Jack for little league this season. He completely missed the official try-outs but by some miracle (the happenstance of trying to schedule a sleep-over with another baseball loving friend of his) I got wind of the make-up trial and managed to get Jack (with less than 12 hours notice) to the last selection round, in the last hour, on the last possible day. Had I missed that window, no amount of pleading, crying or cash would have made a difference. Zip, nada. No baseball for Jack this year. The only sport that would have been left to play in our house would have been hunting, i.e., "Open Season" on Isabelle, run for the hills-cardio, you name it.

Where was Nancy Reagan when I needed her? I was so desperate to ingratiate myself with the uptight league official who took Jack's application and asked me why I hadn't checked the box "will volunteer" that I agreed to be "Team Mom." She assured me that I wouldn't have to do anything more than shoot off a couple of e-mails and be the liaison between the coach and the parents. Half an hour a week of my time, tops.

Wrong! Six hours of my life have already been sucked out of me this week, writing out (ridiculous) practice schedules, cajoling parents to practice with their kids, and now being ordered to attend official league meetings!!!!! And let's not forget Makena and her precarious nap schedule and weaving that into the picture (and the horses... and the tortoise).

It just blew my mind (and this is post the "get my act together" epiphany from a couple weeks back). I'd quit but I don't want to set a bad example. I'll just practice saying "no" to my husband. For some reason, that seems to be a lot easier than saying it to strangers.

Now that I have twenty-twenty hindsight, the aerobic benefits of being hunted would have been welcomed.

What is wrong with me?

Is-a-sucker
PS This is what we do to Makena's hair when daddy is at work.