Tee Ball

Mason made out like a bandit this year for his birthday.  However, Laura and I were out staged by Grandma and Grandpa.

Laura and I got Mason several presents like we normally do. One was a swing that I hung in the Elm tree.  Mason loves to swing.  We originally had an infant swing that was just too difficult for the parents.  You know the kind.  It is a seat with a back, so when you go to put the child in, they do not know enough to bend at the knees so you end up pushing the swing away with their legs.  This makes it nearly impossible to get the child into the swing.  Then add to that, the plastic cage that goes between their legs with half a dozen straps to make sure that even if the swing breaks off its hinges and tumbles down a hill, the child won’t fall out.  All in the name of safety I guess.

So this year, we replaced the infant swing with the more traditional playground style, two chains and a narrow band of plastic to sit on. Mason was so excited to see it hanging from the tree.  He got himself sat down and promptly rolled off backwards.  Perhaps he needs a little direction, like not letting go of the chains.  After the slight mishap, he decided to swing on his belly.  That way, when he fell off head first he could at least see the ground coming.

Another gift given by some good friends was a 42 Inch Disney Pixar Cars Bop Bag.  This is a nearly four foot tall plastic punching bag that stands back up after hitting it.  Sooo entertaining to watch Mason take a running start from across the room and do a superman style tackle.  At least until it pitched him off and he bounced off the corner of the wall.  Had to get comforted by Mom for a little while after that one.  It must not have been quite as much fun after that because it has sat there untouched ever since.  Well, with the exception of me taking a swing at it every time I walk past.  The picture of Lighting McQueen is just asking to be punched…

Laura and I felt that we had done a great job of picking out his presents this year…at least until Grandma and Grandpa brought over their presents.  The first one that Mason opened was a hand held gun looking thing that had some flying spinners.  Basically, you put the spinner on, wind it up and pull the trigger to send it flying across the house.  The package said they will fly up to 20 feet.  It failed to mention that they will only fly 20 feet if it does not hit Dad in the face first.  I am not totally convinced that the toy was bought solely for Mason’s enjoyment…I think Grandpa had as much fun with them as Mason.  The only problem with the toy right now is that Mason is not able to wind the spinner so he brings them to me…over…and over…and over again.  He really enjoys them though and at some point I am hopeful he will figure out how to wind them himself.

The second gift that Mason opened was a Tee-Ball Set.  This included a stand, ball and bat.  My first thought when he finally got it open was “great, give a three year old a BAT!!”  Fortunately, the engineers thought of that and put foam padding around most of the plastic. Unfortunately, the non-covered plastic is at the very end of the bat which has the highest velocity and really stings when hit in the shin…and knee…and the back of the hand.  After he gets it open, we head outside to test it out.  I was really surprised how accurate he was at swinging the bat.  He was able to connect with the ball nearly every time.  The more amazing thing to me was he swings both left and right handed.  I am left hand inept.  If I try to swing a baseball bat left handed, I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick that blasted football with Lucy pulling it away…in other words, I look like a fool.

We may have been trumped by Grandma and Grandpa this year with the tee ball set, but as grandparents, it is their right to spoil the grand kid.  I will have to teach Mason a few things though, like not to hit the ball towards the cars and not to chase the dogs with the bat. While entertaining to watch, the dogs will probably appreciate fewer bruises from a child induced “bat accident”.