SoCal Wicked Limon

We used to have a regular life. Actually, many of our friends say that sentence should say, "We used to have a life", period. It doesn't really seem that long ago that we became softball parents. Our lawn used to be like a carpet, it was green, mowed, trimmed, fertilized and watered. Any weeds that dared to show their leaves were pulled out by their roots. Now we have two big bare spots forty feet apart. We like the bare spots. We like them because they are the only places that the weeds and crab grass aren't threating to take over. Our car used to draw admiring looks and comments. It was clean and waxed and shined and Armor All'd. Now it only draws the attention when it wins the "dirtiest car in the parking lot" prize. Our friends and we used to spend Monday mornings talking about five-iron shots, three-putts and titanium shafts. Now we bore them to death with detailed play-by-play descriptions of five or six low scoring ball games. Somehow, they just don't understand the drama of a 2-0 game. We used to think anything over $40 was an exorbitant price for a ball bat. Now the contents of our daughter's equipment bag are worth more than everything else in the car together-including clothes, jewelry, watches and laptop computer. My wife and I used to love each other. Still do, thank God. But that's a tribute to our patience and good humor. We used to sit and talk for hours. We still do-to keep the driver awake when we're headed home from a tournament a distance away. We used to wonder what the kids would do when they grew up. Now my wife wants to know what I'm going to do IF I ever grow up. Our summer casual wardrobe used to be made up of color-coordinated polo shirts, cool cottons in bright colors, and the occasional "aloha" shirt. Now we have a closet full of t-shirts in white with some logo in Teal. Those that don't have Wicked Fastpitch Softball on the front have a cute saying on the back, like "If You follow Me Long Enough, You'll End Up at a Ball Field." We used to glue ourselves to the sofa and watch the NCAA Basketball tournament or go to a movie. Now, we catch the highlights on Sportcenter or wait till the movie comes out on video. We used to have sympathy for Umpires. We used to think boys were tough. We used to think a double-header was a long day at the ball field. Now we're just getting warmed up. We used to spend our summer vactions relaxing on the beach or visiting family. Now we hit the road with 40 of our closest friends. We used to think the ideal child had brains and beauty. She still does, but now she better also be quick, courageous, and able to bunt a good rise ball. We used to look for little restaurants that serves seafood fresh off the boat. Now we are connoisseurs of nachos and smoked sausages. We used to be concerned that we would fall into the trap of living our life through our daughter. Now we know that we are privileged to live our life WITH our daughter. -Anonymous