Yesterday we played kickball at pack meeting with the cub scouts. I remembered something I did in grade school. I used to occasionally play kickball at recess. I wasn't good but I wasn't the worst. You know how you can request that the ball be pitched to you "slow and smooth" or "fast and bouncy"? Well, I like it slow and bouncy and I remembered that I used to say, "Slow and bouncy. . . " and then I would hold my foot up off the ground about four inches and say " . . . about yay high."
Ugh. Doesn't that just make you hate me? I actually thought it was a really cool thing to do. I wasn't a jock. No one knew me. I wasn't a personality in the class that everyone would listen to and care that I said "yay high." I never kicked home runs. Why did I say that? Sometimes I remember things about myself as a child that are endearing. But this just makes me want to tell myself, "Keep your head down, freak."
Don't be so hard on yourself. Everyone did that.
ReplyDeleteI would even send the ball back to be re-pitched if it didn't meet my discerning tastes.
Yeah, but you were awesome.
Delete"Keep your head down, freak." My new self-affirmation mantra.
ReplyDeleteI need to learn to say that in Gospel Doctrine class.
ReplyDeleteI caught Mike Roth's pop fly and then all the boys hated me. They would later be redeemed in 6th grade when Brent Hamilton through a baseball and it hit me in the face. Yeah, I hate kickball. Remember, "fast and bouncy and to the side"?
ReplyDeleteThis is Becky McKay by the way.
I want that printed on a t-shirt.
ReplyDeleteI remember always saying "no puppy guarding" when you didn't want someone to goal tend, or hover around "home base"
ReplyDeleteI used to think that people who said "yay" as a term of measurment were cool. What does that say about me?
ReplyDeleteI remember asking for it fast and smooth. And when it was not my turn, yelling at the ball thrower (I feel like it's not really a pitcher) "We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher." It was not that intense, but we thought it was apparently.
ReplyDeleteYou're the funniest blogger in blogland and I'm glad you did awesome things when you were a kid so you can tell us about it now.
ReplyDeleteAt my school we had two options: "slow and smooth" or "baby bounces."
ReplyDeleteKickball is the stuff of my nightmares.
ReplyDeleteI laughed out loud reading this. I love your blog. I am a regular reader but I don't comment that often, but I just had to on this.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this, I was nodding my head because I could totally relate, and was starting to sink into a sense of shame/embarassment of the things I did as a kid. Then I read, "Keep your head down, freak." and instantly burst into hearty laughter instead. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteso funny! i can relate.
ReplyDeleteSometimes that's what I say to myself when I think about commenting on your blog.
ReplyDelete