JP’s great aunt got him a bat and ball for his birthday, which we took the playground for some BP (insert oil-spill joke here). I have to say, JP isn’t all that bad. When he manages to make contact he can put a pretty solid whack on the ball, which makes me inordinately…relieved.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have no real expectations for JP as an athlete. But at the same time, I find it oddly important for him to have some basic proficiency at things like baseball. Yes, yes, yes, I want him to enjoy it, and he does, even if he enjoys kicking the ball and running backwards around the bases, skipping, shouting, and windmilling his arms as much as he does hitting the ball. That’s good.

At the same time, I do hope he’s decent at sports. Athletics were so desperately important to me as a child. I wasn’t particularly good at anything, but I loved playing–tennis, baseball, soccer, football, stickball, whatever. I want him to be into it, too, and I tend to think that as he gets older, the better he is at these things the more he will want to do them. Or maybe not. Either way, having a boy who can flat rake would be pretty cool.

BTW–one issue going forward could be my total inability as a pitcher. I’m soft tossing to the kid and I can’t find the plate. Pathetic.