Put This (Shit) on Pinterest!

So sometimes I feel like I am still trying to hit my stride with this whole parenting gig. I show up for things like PTA meetings/functions and I think, Nah this isn't me. I shouldn’t be here. I don't fit. (Like where should I be? The club? The bar? The gym?)  Some things that seem to come naturally to other parents don't always feel as natural to me. Or I feel too young or too underdressed or too... (insert your insecurity here!).

But sometimes (sometimes!) I feel like maybe I get it right.

Nate's 2nd grade class has a Surprise Reader that comes in every Thursday morning. Parents or family members sign up for a spot and the stage (or the rainbow mat – whatever) is yours to talk or read about anything. His sweet teacher emailed me a few suggestions – ranging from a science experiment (yea, that's a no for me) to making paper airplanes (props? We can bring props? Yes please.) to reading a favorite book.

I wanted to share something both Nate and I love. He has a few books we read over and over and over. One of those is "Ted Williams :: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived" (A baseball book!? GASP.) There aren't many kids in his class that play baseball or softball so I wasn't sure how the book would go over, but, well, 2nd graders are pretty rad and they were totally into it.

 

Oh hey, Ted! If you ever want to be bum rushed by 23 adorable 7 & 8 year olds, just read the sentence in this book that says "And he swung and swung until his hands would bleed." And then, when one of the most adorable girls in the 2nd grade asks sweetly "Is there blood in the picture?" and you squint real close, because, yes, yes the illustrator did actually put a few spots of blood on Ted's bat in the picture, prepare yourself for 23 "LET ME SEEEEEEEEEs" coming at you!

 

I also brought some super old baseball cards. (Most married people have to combine, like, their CD collections. Karl and I had to combine our old baseball cards. I mean, what do people even combine now? Their iTunes accounts!?) Anyway, the kids had a blast looking through the cards and picking out their favorite 80s mustaches.

I regaled them with horrible old lady stories about walking to the neighborhood drugstore (And then thought - crap can I say drugstore!? HA.) to buy a pack of baseball cards for 25 cents mostly so I could get the stick of sweet cardboard-like gum. Raise your hand if you remember this sweet waxy packing and the gum sticks! (Also this is an old photo from the internet, I only WISH I still had some of that gum in the original packaging. Imagine the rock-hardness.)

Then we made our own baseball cards. Well, Nate and a few others made theirs baseball related.  There was also a nice variety of soccer, gymnastics, dance, basketball, cheer and one horseback rider. I'm sure I am breaking some copyright law here with the Topps logo but there were a bunch of blank baseball card templates on The Internets so I'm going with LEGAL. 

All in all, pretty adorable, right?