Last week a friend of Michael’s gave him six tickets to see a Peoria Chiefs baseball game. So on Sunday, Michael took the oldest five children over to Peoria to enjoy the game. Unfortunately, the children didn’t really enjoy the game as much as Michael had hoped. It turned out to be a test of parental endurance for Michael, as he tried to manage everyone’s requests and complaints and squabbles. By the time they returned home, the children were in pretty good spirits, but Michael was completely exhausted. The children were full of news about getting to buy soft drinks and snacks at the gas station on the way home, and they were eager to show off the free bats they had each received as they entered the ballpark. At the sight of five full-size wooden bats being carried out of the van, my eyes grew as big as softballs as I tried to imagine the chaos that our crew might concoct with baseball bats! Sure enough, by yesterday morning I was already banishing the bats to be outside toys. But somehow they kept walking back inside in the hands of the children. First I got hit in the shins with a bat. Then Lilly got bonked with a bat. Those two bats were confiscated and put on top of the fridge. Then someone else decided it was fun to thump their bat on the nice wood floors we have here. A sharp holler from me silenced that idea briefly. I’m already trying to figure out how to make five wooden bats disappear without traumatizing the children. I wonder if the promise of a bonfire would be enough to lure them to use the bats as fuel for that fire.

In other ballgame news, last night was the final game of our church softball team. They played against a very good team, so Michael was pessimistic about the chances of winning. But much to everyone’s surprise, our church team won the game quite handily! It was especially nice that our team won, since there was a large group from our church there in the stands.

I guess all these chances to watch ball games could count as some sort of homeschooling, right?