"Take me Out to the Ballgame..."

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame..."

Oftentimes in the hustle and bustle of daily life, we sometimes forget the significance of the little moments. For our children, these little moments can be lifelong memories. Last week my daughter and I went to her first professional baseball game. We had a chance to watch the Cincinnati Reds take on the Minnesota Twins on a beautiful (hot) summer day. For my 3 year old, everything, and I mean everything, was interesting. Parking garage - she thought it was the coolest thing ever. Riding the downtown Cincinnati trolley train to the game - Check, coolest thing ever. Getting to clap and cheer on with all the other fans - coolest thing ever. For me though, seeing the excitement in her eyes and she soaked all of these truly monumental things in for the first time was the “coolest” thing ever for me.

As a planner, the logistics and lead up to the travel and getting to the game on my own with her had me a little nervous. Arriving at the ballpark I noticed that her eyes were as big as stars. Looking back reminded me she really hadn’t been to an event this big before. We had been to smaller collegiate baseball games (and lasted 1 total inning at that outing) but nothing much bigger. She was soaking it in, and enjoying every second. This truly made this worth it and put me at ease. On a day that was 50/50 for expectations of rain, and definitely flirted with a storm or two, our little one was slightly disappointed that we never had to get out the ponchos we packed just in case.

After a little bit of some offensive explosion by the Reds (which had our newest fan on her feet and clapping!), a detour to the playground was in the works. Playing on the playground and making new friends in that heat works up a thirst and a bit of an appetite as well. Of course game day snacks like cotton candy and cracker jacks were not only talked about beforehand, but deemed a necessity. So before going back to our seats, we went for the concession hunt. We came up big as our daughter’s friend scored some cotton candy, and our little one found the cracker jacks we had been hunting for for the better part of an inning. We started back to our seats, but not first before stopping by fan services and grabbing our little ones “Reds First Game” certificate. Back in our seats the game lulled a little bit but the snacks kept the little ones happy. The heat was hard to beat though, and after the 4th or 5th inning (I lost track) when making a water run, we made the decision to pull the plug and head back to the car.

Being a parent is hard work. Being a somewhat good one is even harder. The sacrifices that go unseen, un-thanked, and often unheard are too numerous to count. There are daily reminders though of how these sacrifices are worth it. Seeing those sparks of creativity, joy, and happiness are priceless to a parent's eyes. Seeing her enjoyment in the little things we sometimes take for granted has me excited to implement and bring on more firsts for her and our family. While we only were able to watch maybe 6 total outs of actual baseball, that's really not what this day was about. The thing that warmed my heart was how our daycare teachers told me how my daughter talked about her trip the next day and her excitement never wavered when telling her friends and teachers. Our daughter is going on 4. I don't know at what age memories can form, and when or at what age something can be a first memory for a child, but I’m really rooting that this one makes the cut. To all the parents out there giving it their all, this post is for you. The little things we say and do make such a difference in our little one’s lives. I fall short more often than not, but even though the Reds lost on this beautiful day, the whole experience felt like a walk off home-run in the grand scheme of things.