Hey, you need your cup. Oh yeah, my cups!

So today was all about sunscreen and baseball. In the morning, an Opening Day parade with a sweet High School gal singin’ the national anthem in a quavery, somewhat hollow voice. A melee of parents with strollers and high hopes.

Being a Sunday, there were folks in Church get-up following little girls with chin length hair in flowery dresses and white buckled shoes. There were moms who had clearly taken the opportunity to coordinate their summer attire for the first time – tank tops and tiny tees dug out of attics and closets all over Connecticut. Some were just looking to stay cool and others were playing the whole “Look at me, I’m something to look at, aren’t I?” But no matter, cause how comfortable can you be be in 80 degrees at 10 am at a high school football field rubbing elbows with a few thousand eager parents?

We waited forEVA as they all lined up and then happily watched the cleated midgets march in on the track and cluster about in uniformed glory as the announcer announced all kinds of perfectly pertinent and boring information. Max picked dandelions and wandered in a field. Found a man dressed as a dinosaur and shrieked with delight. Found a man dressed as an octopus and gave him a high five. Found a man dressed as a soft and lovable dog with floppy ears and cried Mommy!

The festivities subsided and the parents started their stampede to the parking lot. Jamis wandered away from his team and got lost. But as usual, he just kind of stated as such when he ran into me, without a whole lot of concern for actually being LOST – he was worried he’d missed out on some sort of goody bag he’d seen other team members of OTHER teams toting off the field.

We went home and we had lunch and we had down time. 45 minutes later Jamis was called from the basement to gear up for the actual game. And here comes the totally whacked part. I told him to pee, I laced up his cleats, I filled up his water, I directed him to his hat (which Ethan had wedged under the shopping cart in the dining room, of course), and then I remembered about our new addition to the season’s wardrobe – the sports cup. Is that what this thing is called?
The picture I would really love to post here is Jamis’s little white butt in these little white undies standing in the kitchen with a big fat grin on his face. The big fat grin that says to mom, crouched on the floor in shock and awe, “I’m growing up, lady, and loving every minute of it.”

To quote Jamis as he pulled the briefs up and fingered the fabric, “I didn’t think it was going to be…”

And I’m thinking…”Hard, big, tight?”

“I didn’t think they were going to be shaped like this. Straight across. I thought they would be more curved.”

Now, I’m pretty sure this resembles his choice of words. As he’s talking he draws a line in his pubic area where he thought the briefs would have been cut. And I’m like, What? You aren’t phased by the fact that you’ve got this hard 3D triangle pressed against your “weenie”?!

I called Jen the minute Jamis left with his dad for the game.

“Well I guess you opted to stay home?”

“Yeah. (Pause) I just helped Jamis get ready for the game. (Pause) He had to wear a cup. (Pause)”

I think it’s fair to say that I realized at that moment, in the moment of Jen’s reaction, that my boy is so BOY and growing into Man sooner than I’m ever going to be ready. And I’ve got to do this three times. Learn how to let go and watch them grow.