Grubby Kids

I was wrong about not being able to post today. My husband is still sleeping. We won't be on the road to Gettysburg for another hour or two...so here I am. Ready to talk about my Easter.

There is only one word to describe kids sometimes. Grubby. When they get to that place where they are beyond dirty, but you knew they had a good time getting smeared with mud and covered in grime, a kids is grubby.

Especially if they're smiling. LOL And our kids were smiling yesterday.

The weather has been warm here in Western, PA, so my brothers and older nephews played softball with the kids. Picture it. We have kids who are two and kids who are in their thirties who love to play softball. So you can have someone under three feet tall who comes up to bat, or someone who could knock the living room window out of my sister Helen's house.

There's a baseball sized lot between my mom and my sister's house. In the fall, they use it for football. But I digress. Yesterday, little boys in their good pants and little girls who'd only minutes before changed out of frilly pastel dresses, grabbed a bat and mit and headed for the field.

What's fun about watching these games is seeing the lengths my brothers and older nephews will go to to make the younger kids feel included. They'll pretend to bobble balls so that a pint-sized hitter will make it to first. Or they'll catch a ball and quickly toss it to the kid beside them so the kid can make the big play.

I remember my uncles doing that for me when I was knee-high to a grasshopper (as they used to say). I remember how good it felt to be a part of things. I smile now thinking about it.

There's nothing like the attention of an uncle or an older cousin at a family function. The aunts and moms and female cousins always fuss over kids, making sure you have dinner etc. But the uncles only really get a chance to get to know you over a good game of softball.

So our kids were ball-game grubby yesterday. They came into the house caked in dirt with faces wreathed in smiles. Next Easter when we're under four foot of snow, they'll think back on today and laugh.

And that's what family is all about. Praise for the brownies that are burned around the edges, but really basically tasted good. Noticing weight losses and new hair dos and listening to stories of high school and college. And softball. A time to simply go outside and enjoy a day.

Hope your Easter was happy!

susan