Catch!

I broke weak this morning and got little chocolate covered donut gems and chocolate milk for breakfast. :P  Totally counter-productive to the walking on the rec field I did this last week, and the catch I played last night with the boys.  (You wouldn't think that a simple game of catch would be that much excersize, but #2 son (14, will turn 15 in a couple weeks) and I got this rythm going and I was pretty winded there at the end!)

I could tell I've been woefully lacking in my parental responsibilities.  I threw the ball to ("to", mind you, not even "at" like my Dad used to do to me) #3 son (11yrs) and he flinched with his whole body and actually got hit in the head because he did that.  (He flinched *into* the ball.) And then when he threw it to me, ohmygosh.  I'm just glad he was playing with me and not some neighbor kid because he would have been laughed out of the game.  He threw the ball with his elbow down and tucked mostly close to his body.  He looked like a girl, I swear.  So I told him about "elbow back" and "throw over your head" and kept getting on his case about proper throwing and catching and "GET IN FRONT OF THE BALL!" and "Stop the ball with whatever means possible- if that means sacrificing your body, they so be it!"  There at the end he wasn't flinching and was able to actually catch five throws in a row without missing, and he could throw decently enough that I don't think he'd embarrass himself if someone outside of the family were to play with him.  So there was progress there.  I'm hoping to cement some of the lessons by playing again tonight, but I'm not sure how much time we'll have.  (Spouse and I are supposed to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate our 17th anniversary. :)  ) 

#4 and #5 son were watching the catching, the youngest from his excersaucer, and both got jealous and wanted to play too.  So I ended up going into the house and sitting on the floor and rolling the squishy ball for them to chase.  #4 (3yrs) was getting pretty good at throwing, while the baby just loved crawling around after it.  You wouldn't think a 13 month old would get jealous, but when #4 wouldn't let him play ("Mine ball!") #5 started screaming until he was allowed to chase after and retrieve the ball too.  I had to have 2 seperate squishy-balls going to keep them both happy.