Being Thankful For The Little Things

It is baseball season. Six days out of the week someone has to be somewhere for some game or practice. Saturday was no exception.

We had three kids playing in three different games at three different, yet overlapping, times. Luckily they were at the same location. Mostly it was lucky for me since Rob was able to go with just the players, sparing me from spending most of the day chasing rock throwing toddlers around the fields and bribing everyone else with trips to the snack bar.

Saturday was also overpriced picture day. The kids wanted to get the photos that look like baseball cards. But for $40 per kid, I'll use my mad photo shop skills. We just bought the team picture and one individual photograph.

Last night the subject came up about posing for the pictures. My 11 yr old tells me that they had everyone pose holding their baseball bats. My 7 yr old pipes up the they all posed that way too.

Before I could ask my 10 yr old, he says,"They had everyone pose that way on my team too. Except for me."

"Why except for you?" I asked.

"I asked the photographer if I could pose like this instead." And then he showed us what like this looked like. He assumed a position that could only be described as a gorilla taking a dump.

We all started laughing. And laughing. I exercised stomach muscles that haven't exerted themselves in years. I had tears streaming down my cheeks imagining these pictures. Every time our laughter would begin to wane, one of us would ask him to assume the position again, and our laughter would begin anew.

Luckily this child did not inherit my personality. If people had laughed at me when I was a kid I would have run to my room crying and not come out for days. And when I did come out it would only have been to give everyone the cold shoulder. Then again, I would have posed the way the photographer asked. But this child isn't like me.

Once I was finally able to breathe, I said, "Did you make a nice smile at least."

"Well, I think so." was his answer.

And then he demonstrated his "cool smile" ... one that he evidently has been perfecting in the mirror. Though I am not sure I would call it a smile so much as moving your entire mouth over to the right side of your face. It was at that point that I fell off my chair and on to the floor, giving silent thanks that I didn't have a full bladder.

In a few weeks we will get the pictures. My other two sons will probably have photos that are cute but generic, certainly there will be nothing extraordinary about them. But the gorilla taking a dump, well, that is the sort of thing that lives on in family legend.

And so today I am thankful that we will have the photographic evidence to tease him mock him mercilessly cherish for years to come. And when he brings home his first girlfriend, I know exactly the photo I will have on display.

And don't worry internet, I will share it with you too.