Under The Sun Again

Little League season is back.

You can tell because the folding chairs and coolers full of Capri Sun and fruit snacks have reappeared. The group texts have returned, and on any given weekday, there's a line of minivans and pickups pulling into the parking lots just as the sun begins to fall to treetop level.

If you're a millennial parent like me, this probably invokes a strange yet familiar feeling.

It doesn't feel all too long ago that we were the ones in an oversized t-shirt featuring a local business's name, staring at the dandelions in the outfield, wondering when we'd get to bat next. Now, we're the ones in the bleachers or in the grass just off of the first base line, drinking our coffee, trying to follow the batting order, and downloading the scheduling app that tells us when the next game is.

There's something grounding about Little League. Sometimes the score matters, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes kids strike out, forget which base to run, or bring their glove up to bat. But, that's all part of it. These kids are out there learning, and I don't just mean how to hit a fastball. They're learning how a game is played and how to be part of a team. How to be involved in something bigger than themselves, and what it means to have good sportsmanship.

And maybe we're learning a few things too.

We're learning that development, not just in baseball, takes time. That confidence doesn't grow overnight, but does grow. And that sometimes the hardest part of parenting is staying quiet and letting them figure it out.

In a world that moves fast and measures every tiny detail, especially in the world of social media, Little League and the kids in it, run at its own pace. Three strikes, four balls, and everybody bats. There's something healthy about that.

So here's to the volunteer coaches and umpires, to the parents who clap even when the play falls apart, and most importantly, here's to the kids who go out and give it their all.

These seasons don't last forever. One day we'll no longer need the folding chairs, the team schedules, and the group text with the other kids' parents.

But for now, the bases are out, the kids are up to bat, and we get a front row seat to watch them grow. And that's a pretty good place to be.