Holiday

Today Dutch and Cook went to a Portland State University women's softball game. They walked 2.2 miles there, watched an abbreviated doubleheader in intermittent rain, and walked 2.2 miles home again. Let me repeat this. My six-year-old daughter spent five hours outside today, much of it in the rain, walked almost 4.5 miles, and watched 12 innings of softball. Cook suggested they leave after the first game (he was ready to go), and Dutch chose to stay. He reports that she was really nice and cheerful the whole time.

I'm not sure what this says about her, or what exactly it means to me. I don't know what the draw was. I'm not even clear that she has any particular interest in softball. She didn't have much to say about it, except that her favorite part was a home run. It could just be that she was spending time with a parent doing something different without the interfering toddler in tow. But there's something about the outing that really worked for her, and I think that's awesome. It's also one of the things I like about parenting; you never know what will click, and when things do click, it's a joy.