After my doggo died, I stopped walking to the bus stop. It wasn’t like she’d joined me this year- so it must have been grief that was stopping me wanting to go and chat with the other parents at the school bus- but the result was I was feeling a bit more isolated than usual. My close friends are all super busy and I think I underestimated the bus-stop value. So when one of my D&D kids’ parents said there was a wiffle ball gathering at a local field, with popsicles, on the last day of school, I decided to go. It ended up being incredibly community-affirming and nostalgic and I’m glad I did.
Transcript
It started out just me and my kid. Another mom had told me there was a little gathering at the park on the last day of school, with wiffle ball, but we were a bit early and there were only a few kids playing soccer.
Panel: I bend down, wearing a hat, next to my cane, and say OOF as a ball hits the ground in front of me. My kid, holding a wiffle bat, says “Ugh, I suck at throwing.”
Panel : After I threw my 10th “ball”… My kid runs off saying “I’m gonna go see if that’s my friend.”
Panel: …we picked up a classmate from the soccer game. Another child high fives my kid. Phew.
Panel: My kid piutches low and says “Ugh, can you pitch any better?”
Panel: A couple of older kids in hawaiian shirts joined in. “Can we play?” “Yeah!” “Can ya pitch?”
Panel: One of the new kids is pitching. Ball! Ball 2! Ball 3! Ball 4! Walk it.
Panel: The other kid says “Let me try” and takes the ball.
Panel: He pitches. Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! I am watching from afar.
Panel: I call, “Y’all want me to pitch?”
Panel: a big YES from all 4. I don’t know that I”ll be any better but they’ll stop blaming each other.
Panel: I was NOT much better- “Whoops!” my pitch bonks into a kid’s butt. From off panel comes “hahahaha butt ball”
Panel: But some more kids showed up to pitch and eventually I was made redundant (mostly). A line of kids chat behind the batter. I call from the sidelines, “BACK UP BATTERS! Someone’s gonna get hit in the mouth!”
Panel: A blond kid in wraparound sunglasses says smugly, “Me! I am!”
Panel: I look sarcastically at him. “Not on my watch, random kid. BACK. It. UP.”
Panel: He scoots backward quickly. “Bet.”
Panel: The sunglasses kid hits a ball – POP! The pitcher says “Ahh get it to first!” The batters sya “Let’s GO!”
Panel: This is not a field that’s been kept up. It’s just grass with a batting cage on one corner. Kids just keep showing up. It’s very nostalgic and I’m enjoying it….
Panel: Safe! Out! He was totally safe~! nah uh! HOw?? Saaaafe!
A kid approaches me, sitting on my cane. “Um, someone’s mom? We need bases.”
Panel: I rummage through my backpack. “I got….”
Panel: I pull out two cloth grocery bags. I am proud. “GROCERY BAGS!”
Panel: After a bit….
Panel: Another kid joins. “Hey!” “We got Tim!”
Panel: and another – “HI!” “go bat!”
Panel: There were enough kids to actually play. The panel shows a bunch of kids yelling OUT, Safe! MLB RULES! to the right, a man bikes up the path with pizzas on his handlebars.
Panel: And then maybe too many! The field is full, the pitcher says “I just need a warmup!” “Let me pitch!” “It’s my turn!” The batters are again standing too close to the batter up. I say, “BATTING TEAM: If you don’t back up I’m gonna make you back up!”
Panel: Another kid approaches me. “Ollie’s mom, will you go yell at someone?” It takes me a minute to recognize this child who has grown about a foot since the class trip in April.
Panel: I shrug. “Uh, sure, why?” “He keeps stealing 2nd base.” “I thought it was MLB rules?” “No, like…”
I look out to the field to see some kids with a frisbee literally stealing 2nd base – the bag we’ve been using is around their ankle as they head out to the soccer area.
TO BE CONTINUED