SHOTGUN!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are driving me crazy these days with their silly little game of "shotgun." No matter where we're headed, no matter what time of day, as soon as we lock the back door and make our way toward the SUV, one of them screams "shotgun" then breaks into a full-throttle run for the passenger side door.

This drives me bonkers because no matter who wins the coveted place in the front, the other is pissed off to the max and protests - loudly.

What's the big deal, anway, and why did this male testosterone-driven competition suddenly begin? Thing 2's place has always been in the backseat but these days, he feels compelled to fight for the front seat spot. I'm very confused by this. And I'm very puzzled by the level of emotion associated with this little game. The boy who loses out usually punches the winner or hurls verbal assaults then begrudgingly crawls into the back seat and pouts. And the one that lands in the front seat insists upon doing a little victory dance and squealing with delight. I just don't get it.

It's gotten so out of hand, I've had to set rules for this little competition: 1. If you must scream "shotgun," do it quietly. 2. If you are the winner, you must not gloat over or taunt the loser. 3. If you are the loser, shut up and ride - not one peep out of the kid in the backseat, not one protest, a single punch or a glimmer of pouting. If any of these rules are broken, both boys are forced to ride in the backseat...together.

They have both been ousted to the backseat several times recently for not following the rules. And what has happened on those occasions confuses me even more. They both cross their arms and sulk, throwing glares and dirty looks at me in my rearview mirror. Then, Thing 1 almost always says, "Just wait 'til I get my own truck. Then we can BOTH ride in the front seat every day." Then the little one says, "Yeah!"

Whose game was this anyway?

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

With regular league play far behind us, our family has officially embarked on ALL STAR BASEBALL SEASON, better known as "Our Life" for 2.5 months each summer (or at least for the last three summers).

Our league has eight teams of boys in the 7-8 age group with 12 or 13 players on each team. My husband was a head coach for the first time this year and steered the 12 boys on his Cardinals team to an astounding three victories and 11 losses (I know, shock and awe). At the end of regular season play, my husband and the seven other head coaches convened in a dimly light pressbox with pizza (and probably cold adult beverages) and, through a very scientific method (NOT), chose the 10 best players from the pool of 100+ boys. These 10, my friends, were deemed the 2008 8-Year-Old Dayton All Star Team. Once the head coach was named (this is the coach who had the best record this year - NOT my husband, mind you), he was allowed to name two additional players to the team (affectionately known as the "alternates"). This team of 12 swept the Dizzy Dean District Championship (for the third year in a row), and will compete in the Dizzy Dean State Championship beginning this Friday at 6 PM in Harrison (keep your fingers crossed!!!)

In preparation for All Star Season 2008, my little one (okay, actually my husband wanted it more than Thing 2 but we'll tell the story the way he'd like it told). Anyway, my little one "needed" a new bat - a 2008 Worth Prodigy Lithium bat, 20 oz. in weight, 30 inches in length, with a barrel exactly 2.75" in diameter. I know all this because retail stores and online vendors discontinued it because it was a 2008 model...and the 2009s are now on the shelves. So I had to turn to ebay for assistance. And through a two-day bidding war with eight other people, I won my Prodigy bat for a grand total of $147.50. Yikes. And when it arrived via FedEx (with its one-year warranty attached), Thing 2 opened the box, pulled the bat from within, and held it - mesmerized. He looked up (I swear with tears in his eyes) and said, "This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I mean it."

It was a wonderful moment for me.

So we'll pack the sunblock, the family cooler, and the bat and head to the state tournament this weekend. There will be some stellar plays, some heart-breaking "at bats," and some nail-biting innings, I'm sure, and I'll report back on all of the above - complete with photos - as soon as possible. In the meantime, here's one from our USSSA 4th of July Blow-out in Knoxville this past weekend...with our FIRST PLACE TROPHIES!!!