Fly Ball!!!

He did it! Kaleb hit the ball!! A fly ball to right field!! (No, the right-fielder did not catch it.) I am so proud of that boy of mine. I knew he could do it!

Unfortunately, I missed it! I had to teach a class last night, so I missed his game. This is the first game I've missed all season. KC was there though and he said the whole team and all the parents went crazy when he hit. WTG Kaleb!!!!

I don't know what finally got through to him, but whatever it was, it worked!

Kaleb (who just turned 10) has been terrified to swing at the ball since about half-way through the season. He started out the year doing great. He had several nice hits and a few foul balls. But then he got hit by stray pitches 3 or 4 times (always during practice with his team) and that just shut him down. Since then, he's been stepping out of the batter's box or dropping to the ground as the pitch goes by. He was just terrified of being hit again, and he refused to swing. His coach has been working hard with him, and has stayed positive, encouraging him to keep trying. I've been taking him across the street to the ball field to watch the other teams play, hoping to get him excited again. And both KC and I have just kept trying to encourage him and help him to believe in himself again.

Yesterday, as part of his summer workbook assignment, Kaleb had to set some goals for himself. Kenyon was helping him and suggested that one of his goals be to hit the ball. I was surprised when Kaleb agreed. He had to write down how he felt about that goal. He wrote "I will try my hardest to hit the ball."

And he did!!

I know this probably seems like such a silly thing, but for Kaleb it's huge. We have really struggled with Kaleb's confidence in himself, so something like this is a giant boost for him. He's on cloud 9 today and I'm just thrilled for my sweet boy.

Now I'm off to take him to Cold Stone, since I promised to treat him if he hit the ball. He has another game tonight. I'm hoping he'll get a hit again so I can see it. We can do Cold Stone twice in one day, right!?