We leave for Cooperstown two weeks from Friday. It came fast. It seemed so long away, and now it is crunch time. I need to start to get things together for packing; I need to make sure that Daniel has everything he will need in the dorm. Yes, a dorm. He and the team, along with the coaches will be staying for a week in a dorm. That is the way that this tournament works. The team plays ball together, they eat together as a team, they go to the showers together, they participate in any activities off the field together. We get to watch baseball for a week. We stay at the hotel for a week, it is a little scary. Patrick won't be joining us, a shame, because he really wanted to see the hall of fame, but it is necessary for him to stay behind, he has his second week of football. JV, school ball, and that is way more important. My in laws are taking care of him and the dog. They will go over to their house and stay for the week. It reminds me of times when I had to go stay with my brother and sister in law. If my parents had a function for a weekend, I went over there, right through college. My parents didn't trust me until I was 20 or so to stay alone in the house. My mother thought I would have a huge neighbor disturbing burn down the house party. My father thought I would leave the dog alone too long and there would be a huge mess to find upon arriving home. Me? No way, I actually had a few friends stay over and we watched movies, cooked breakfast for another friend who worked overnights, laughed, and that was it. No damage, no craziness, and no mess that couldn't be cleaned up. I was responsible after all. My boyfriend at the time, well we weren't actually dating, we had hit a spell of not even talking, of seeing other people, and mehanging out with my friends. He wouldn't even come into the house unless there were other folks present. Didn't want me to have to deal with the backlash from my mom. So anyhow, back to the present. Today is a nutty day. Patrick is already at school, doing summer workouts, he will be there until noon, it starts at 8am. Cassidy wants to go to the library, she has read 50 some odd books this summer, some chapter books, some easy readers, some picture (super easy) books. But they are read, she read all summer, and will be ahead of the game when school starts in September. There is a study out there that says that kids who read over summer break are academically ready to start the next grade. They perform better, read closer or on grade level, and the like. I truly believe that. These are the kids whose minds have been active for the summer, not to say that there shouldn't be down time, I am a firm believer in down time, kids need it to unwind, to exercize their bodies and to rest so that they grow. It is just as important as the academic part of life. It is what makes a well rounded kid, one who can use their imagination, one who can just be. It is different with kids who don't know how to do those things, who are programed and their days so scheduled that they don't get the imagination thing. My daughter can make a whole day out of a few pieces of scrap paper a couple of crayons, and a pen. She draws, writes and creates. For our anniversary, she wrote a book, with pictures, words and a "binder." That is how she spends some of her time. Oter times, she sets up her "Webkinz" on a blanket and plays school with them. She also takes her scooter out and rides and rides for a long time on the driveway. She enjoys most of what she does, and it comes from her. Granted, she will sit in front of the tv if she feels like it. Most kids will, but she doesn't need prompting to go do something else all of the time. My sons on the other hand, they need to be constantly prompted. I blame that on daycare. I had to work, had no choice with them. I went back to work when they could go to day care. They were scheduled all day, that is what they got used to, and the transition from day care to home, was a nightmare. They couldn't do it, they couldn't just be. They needed to know what to do, when to do it. It was hard, and still is. Go play, go outside, find something to do on a day that is low humidity and beautifully sunny! I have probably ranted and raved about this at some point or another in this blog. It just gets me that I have to find things for the kids to do constantly. I have gotten to a point that I say "Just clean your room." That is how we spent the afternoon yesterday, they were cleaning that room at the end of the hall. I guess that is it for today. I will leave you with that thought.