First things first - don't teach yourself an awesome skill that will come back to haunt you. Say maybe something like making a peach cobbler. I sat down to find a recipe for a peach blueberry cobbler and decided that three cobblers in less than two weeks might be overkill BUT truthfully we don't have a lot of other junk food in the house so I guess it evens out.
Totally not what I sat down to say. I didn't even intend to write today but my heart is still full and overflowing from the past week here on the island and I thought I'd share a little about what has been going on.
There are two teams that get housed on the island. There are a total of nine American families, fifteen children ages 18 months all the way up to seven year old twins. Three of the families are expecting babies this off season, us being one of them, and another recently adopted a one month old here in Japan. Careful drinking the water.
Within the last month, one of the moms and her two kiddos headed back to the States to be home in time for school to start. Then this past Monday two more families and four total kids learned they would be relocating as well. This is my least favorite part of the baseball life. At the beginning of this year I had no idea what type of women I would meet this year and get the privilege to spend this season. Wow did I get lucky!
To be honest, I often found myself not spending time with them for a few reasons. First, they all have the common bond of children so they would hang while their cute kiddos were running off their excess energy. Second, because I don't mind and enjoy spending time by myself working on craft projects or spending time with Brandon or family traveling to sight see new areas of Japan. Sometimes our schedules just didn't line up and I was okay with it.
But then of course, I found myself wanting to hang out with them and their kids, maybe the kids more, and the opportunities presented themselves for that to happen. While Brandon was on the road I was invited to dinner countless times by one of our teammates and was always entertained by their three awesome children. Or we would go to Costco, without their kids, and I could see just how much each of these mom's loved their kids, but also loved the afternoon free of mom duty.
On Thursday when we had to say some goodbyes it hit me just how much I've grown to admire and respect the baseball moms of this season. Heck not just the moms but the dads too. Seriously, every single one of them in one way or another has taught me something that I hope to be able to remember in the next few years. Somehow they make it work. From taking care of their husbands, keeping the kids occupied, disciplined, happy, fed, etc, putting dinner on the table (delicious amazing dinners I might add), and so much more, in a foreign country. It seems so overwhelming but they all make it look easy.
And then there is a special gift they've given to me that they probably don't even realize. When I'm with their kiddos, or watching them play, it makes me SO excited to be a mom. Listening to all of them at the different ages and the things they do and ask. I don't need to be around kids to be excited for my own, I've always had a special place in my heart for them, but it has made this pregnancy and this season here in Japan that much more enjoyable. So to those momma's, thank you, for sharing your kids with me and letting me have a little bit of the joy that I know they bring you. I will never forget our time here and it won't just be about baseball, but the relationships that were made and memories shared. Okay enough on that before the hormones start raging, it's cobbler time.
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