Friday, June 27, 2008

TV as T-Ball Coach

Almost a year ago, we moved to a new house, new neighborhood, new zip code. It was very exciting. Reid was just a few months old and we were ready to expand our square footage to accommodate our newly doubled number of offspring. We moved from what my in-laws considered “the hood” of Kansas City to a more peaceful setting with gorgeous trees and a bicycle-friendly cul-de-sac. But what wasn’t exciting was moving far away from our best friends who had lived just three houses away in the old ‘hood, and with whom we had spur of the moment dinners, games, drinks…and with whom we even had baby boys around the same time. (They were supposed to be best friends, too! How would they become best friends if we moved a half hour away?!)

So we were quite pleased last week when we had one of our spur-of-the-moment dinner dates at our house, even though they had to drive a half hour home afterwards. Between the eating and the driving, we all hung out in the backyard for a bit and enjoyed our lovely June Kansas City weather. And their little almost-two-year-old adorable Grady played with Graham’s t-ball set – the plastic toy in which Hubby Hawks had been waiting, hoping that the boys would start to show some interest. No matter, it saw a little love from little Grady that night. This almost-two-year-old’s swing was frankly amazing. He whacked the ball off the tee across the yard, over and over, with a power surely harnessed by future pros.

Graham couldn’t have cared less, watching and cheering for “Gary” (still working on Gra-dy) from the bench before getting bored and trying to coax him into riding bikes in the cul-de-sac instead of whacking t-balls.

Our friends, perhaps noting our amazement mentioned that Grady watches a lot of baseball on TV with them at home. Really? That’s the secret? This toddler is emulating the likes of Pujols, Jeter, A-Rod…after seeing them on TV? I got to thinking about the great toddler vs. TV debates of our time. Wasn’t it just last year that Baby Einstein came under such fire from a new study about toddler TV time causing ADD? In my undergrad career I studied the effects of TV ads on children, and how they perpetuate gender and racial stereotypes. TV can create health problems, stereotypes and racism, but I had never considered it could create a t-ball talent. Hubby Hawks surely hadn’t realized this either or he would have plopped Graham down right in front of Sports Center for hours. ADD, schmay-dee-dee! My kid WILL LOVE T-BALL!!!

Luckily, Hubby Hawks isn’t one of those over-bearing sports parents. And neither are our friends. I’m not sure about their attribution of Grady’s hefty swing to ESPN, but they certainly have a little talent on their hands. Now, I’m off to check the TV Guide for the Tour de France airing…hopefully it doesn’t overlap with nap time…

1 comment:

T.Hart said...

You should see the kid swing a golf club, too!