Play Ball!

It's Little League opening day today!

All across America, boys and girls in snappy team uniforms converge onto the field to sit with their respective teams as a local celebrity mc's the grand event, typically with sketchy sound quality, bad (but still funny) jokes, and a heart warming rendition of the Star Spangled Banner (usually performed by the same sweet-voiced kid year after year even though there are auditions). Baseball parents visit with the other baseball parents that they haven't seen since last season; "How is (insert name) doing in Junior High?", "Can you believe how tall (insert name) has gotten?", "What team is (insert name) on this year?" "Who is the Coach?" "Oh, yes. We had him two years ago, (insert name) is a Great coach!"

And my favorite part of Little League season.....?

SNACK SHACK

Sure, I love to watch my kid play ball. The older the kids get, the more fun it is to watch. This is Jacob's 6th year of playing and he's in the Majors now. But the snack shack...my kryptonite, my nemesis, my Achilles heel, my bete noire, my love, my passion....*sigh*. I dream about it during the off-season.

This morning I asked my son: "Guess what I'm having for lunch today!?" (in a far too sing-songy voice for 8am apparently).  He rolled his eyes and mumbled "nachos."

"That's RIGHT! And maybe Now n' Laters for dessert!"

Every year, around this time, I have to add in an extra hike each week so that I can munch away on so-bad-it's-good snack shack fair without guilt. I've stopped fighting it, stopped trying to rationalize it, and stopped feeling guilty about it. Here's why:

1) It has the fat/salt/sugar content that releases those feel good chemicals in my brain
2) It carries with it the nostalgia of being a kid and hanging out at the ball fields/snack shack which releases those feel good chemicals in my brain
3) I am supporting Little League with every purchase which releases those feel good chemicals in my brain

And nobody judges. Not even me.

Who would have the strength to fight that? I'm no superman.

So as I sit here, finishing up my bowl of granola (one needs a solid foundation), about to change out of these jeans and into a nice comfy pair of stretchy pants and head over to the ball field, I realize that I've elevated "Snack Shack Preparedness" to an art form. And I'm sort of proud of it.

Play ball!!