Hannah

Every once in a while you just have to brag on your kids. I have three great daughters, and am very proud of all of them. But, today I'm going to just brag about Hannah. Hannah is my little buddy. She has interests similar to mine and reminds me so much of myself growing up. She's quite the little athlete, too. Whatever the sport, she loves it and wants to play.

She's been playing softball for a couple of years now. She's 11 and playing softball in the 11 and up league. With a little restructure of that league this year, there are girls 15 years old on her team and opposing teams. That means there are girls who are taller, faster and more experienced. I have to admit I was a little worried about how this would play out. Worried about how much faster they will pitch the softball; worried about girls who were maybe more skilled or faster. Worried about her confidence level playing against the older girls. But, Hannah has just tossed aside my worries. She isn't the least bit intimidated by these older, more experienced softball players. It's really kind of cool to watch as her own confidence grows.

Last year in her league, I worried about her getting hit by the softball because the pitchers hadn't quite mastered that hand / eye coordination required to fire it right over the plate. They could fire it in, but you most likely were going to get smacked with the ball a couple of times during a game. These older girls have that mastered and a few can really fire it in.

So every time she gets a hit, gets on base, scores a run, scores an RBI, or makes a play on base - I get a warm glow of parental proudness (even though spell check says this isn't a real word?). Isn't being a parent great? Hannah, I am SOOOO proud of you!!! - Mom