Tonight as I watched game seven of the World Series here at home, wanting more than anything to simply watch in peace and quiet, Olivia wanted to play Lalaloopsies and Lily decided she needed me to explain baseball to her. Sigh…So I helped the Ponies talk to the Loopsies and tried to explain the basics to Lily without missing any of the action myself. Challenging, at best!
Olivia already understood how to read the scoreboard, and knew that we were the “orange guys”. And Lily finally determined that if a hitter got to Fourth Base his team would get a point. (That’s Home Plate and a run, I explained.) Both girls were already Pablo Sandoval fans, since I brought them home the Panda hat from a Giants game three years ago. They watched every time he came up to bat, and thrilled each time he got a hit.
Then came the Ninth Inning. By the bottom of the Ninth, the three of us were counting strikes and balls together, practically tasting the win. Then came the Royals’ final hit, and the Panda’s amazing catch and flat on his back flop. We cheered, we yelled, we cheered some more. Then Olivia ran to the garage to tell her parents the Giants had won the World Series (they were watching the game out there, too, of course).
We watched the trophy presentations and the player interviews. After the interview with Sandoval, Olivia announced in her best four-year-old fashion, “I want to kiss him!” Then she jumped up and squealed, “I want to marry Panda!”
I’m sure she’s not the only one.
triggershorse 