Brighter Days

The month of May was one of the busiest times I can remember. There was something going every weekend and a few things every week, I am not used to doing so much.

I don't know if I had mentioned that the boy played baseball this year. I was very skeptical because I know how sports challenged my family is, I figured we would go to a few practices and then he wouldn't want to do it anymore. Well, we just finished the season. A lot has to be said for the group he played with, this was a coach pitch league, 3 innings, everyone got to bat (10 pitches by the coach then they hit off the T"), most important no outs or scoring. There were no losers. I understand that it is important to teach the kids about winning and losing, which is something they will obviously need to learn in life, but for a bunch of 7 year olds just learning the rules this approach seems to work very well. The boy far exceeded any expectations I had for him, he enjoyed the running bases and hitting. You should have seen his face when he hit the ball for the first time, that surprised look, then checking to make sure Rick and I saw it, then realizing he is supposed to run. We had a wonderful coach who worked a lot of one on one with the boy, there is some question weather he does better with his right or left hand. We will get that figured out, I am sure. The whole baseball thing has been great for him and he can't wait for next year.

Another update about the boy, he has been tested at school for extra help with Physical Therapy and with Occupational Therapy. The PT didn't think he needed services, the boy has been doing a lot better since he has been playing baseball, so we will see if I need to push the issues next year. The great news is that he did qualify for OT, which will help him deal with "trigger" issues. For example, instead of getting upset (basically shutting down) at not having a specific pencil or crayon, try to get him to deal with the issue before he shuts down and can't function. Also there will be help with his hand writing and "sensory issues". This will all start at the begging of next school year, seeing as this is our last week of school.