The Modernish Father

While the girls were busy being sick last week, The Boy and I kept trying to lead fairly normal lives. Well, normal for us. I guess some might argue that we’re both a bit out there.

Actually, I got to spend quite a bit of one-on-one time with him over the weekend, something that’s been difficult to do since The Girl came around. So how did we spend our time together? Well – taking photos, going to a football game and hangin’ with Chuck Norris. Duh.

Commence to start

Even though they started playing games three weeks ago, the local Little League had their opening ceremonies on Saturday. Apparently the installation of some new lighting prevented them from having the ceremonies at the appropriate time (but didn’t keep them from playing games). I guess it’s all about the same in the end.

Being a parent, I now have a newfound appreciation for how bored my parents must have been when they had to go to crap like this for me. We got there fifteen minutes before it started, which meant that the bleachers were completely full and I ended up having to stand alongside one of the fields. I thought that might actually work in my favor because it meant that all of the teams would walk right past me before they were introduced to the crowd and I might get a decent picture of The Boy. But after listening to various city council members and Little League VIPs drone on about themselves for thirty minutes, an oblivious woman walked right in front of me as The Boy’s team came through, resulting in this gem of a picture.

His team was one of the last ones called (of course), but they did eventually make it out onto the field. Once assembled, the horde of sweaty children all mumbled the Little League oath and then it was over. Not exactly a thrilling way to spend an hour of my weekend, but The Boy was pretty excited about it. I guess it was fun to be out there with all the older boys.

Plus on the way out we got to see the goofy mascot for our local minor league team. The Boy agreed to take a picture with him, but it was pretty clear that he was not impressed.

Tough meets tee-ball

Over the past couple of weeks, it has come to our attention that a certain Carlos Ray Norris Jr. has a pair of children in the same tee-ball league as The Boy and he’s helping coach their team. You may know him better as Chuck Norris. (Or if you have a hard time distinguishing fiction from reality, as Walker, Texas Ranger.)

No, I don’t have any pictures. The guy is out there with his kids just trying to be a normal dad and I don’t want to disrupt that. I think it’s great that he’s doing it (and it’s great that we live in a community where he can do so without being hassled). But when The Boy’s team faces Team Norris later on in the season, you can be sure that Chuck will be in some of the action shots.

Actually, I almost wiped out the Norris family in the parking lot the other day. They just kind of all popped out from behind a tree as I was pulling into a parking spot. I’m glad I saw them in time—I don’t need to be known as the guy who took out Chuck Norris.

Football on the cheap

A&M held their annual spring practice game this past weekend, something to which I had never been. I mulled taking The Boy to a game last season, but I wasn’t sure if he’d last long enough to justify buying the pricey tickets. The Maroon and White Game, which cost us a total of $5 to get in the gate, was perfect way to ease The Boy into the world of Aggie fooball.

We got there ten minutes before it started and got seats in the third row behind the end zone. Trying doing that at a real game. They also had $1 drinks and hot dogs, but The Boy decided to blow our entire food budget on a helping of Dippin’ Dots in the second half.

The “game” itself was pretty boring. Really it was just a glorified practice. It was kind of weird to have the coach out there on the field for every play too. I think they kept score, but it was all pretty pointless.

The Boy didn’t care. He was having fun dancing when the Aggie Band played and obsessing over the player roster cards. When we first entered the stadium, he also spent a good deal of time staring at “the biggest building in the world”, as he called it.

Fries at the bottom of the bag

• I was out doing a photo shoot at work and discovered a door to nowhere in the Read Building. Hope they’ve got that door locked.
• The Boy has some mad crazy dance skills.
• Do you know what happens when your dog cuts her tail without you realizing it? She splatters blood everywhere as she wags it.
• My family’s diabolical scheme has worked. After making me blow all my sick leave on taking care of them, I have now contracted their sickness and can’t stay at home.