A few months back sickness wreaked havoc on our extended family. It all started with the preschooler, because, you know, preschools equal giant germ factories. And generally, said preschoolers aren't really known for their amazing hygiene. I question sometimes if we have graduated from that stage even though the ages of the boys should prove otherwise. I still have to tell them not to touch the garbage cans in public restrooms. There must be some allure of magic treasure inside because the seven AND nine year old still stick their faces pretty much inside the nasty cans.
About the same time, Jack was finishing up his basketball camp. In other previous years, Jack played hockey, soccer and baseball. He was pretty good at those but basketball is turning out to be his thing, at least for now. He really really excels at it already and I'm not biased at all. Every Sunday he would go down to the high school gym and practice on his ball handling skills. The coach taught him how to sling the ball in a figure eight around his legs and how to do some cool close to the ground dribbling. The normal things like dribbling and passing were covered too. Every afternoon after school he would work on his Every Day Drills to reinforce all the things he learned each Sunday.
He worked really hard and was so excited to show off his skills at the end of camp performance. All the kids in the program would get to be a part of the half time show during the high school boys' game. They had a whole routine, set to music and would get to dazzle the audience with their awesomeness. All the family who lived in town planned to be in the stands to see all that Jack had learned.
The above mentioned virus changed these plans a little. I let Jack know that even though they really wanted to be there, the sick ones may not make it to his big time performance. He was bummed, but understood. Luckily, some of the family hadn't caught the bug yet and some were on the mend so Jack had a cheering section.
He was quite nervous and excited all at the same time. It was written all over his face during the first half of the game. When it came time to line up, he bravely shook off those butterflies and got busy. He ran across that court, dribbling and passing and figure-eighting to the amped up music. He was amazing; he killed it.
He came back up to us in the stands with a huge smile on his face. He had conquered the world. Well, more like he conquered those ball handling skills, but it sure felt like I had just witness him conquer the universe.
We went out to get frozen yogurt after the big show, because those kind of things deserve celebration. And what a better way to celebrate than a late-night cold sugary treat. As we were chatting and eating, Auntie Sarah reminded Johnny not to share, just in case the bug was still hanging around. I appreciated her caution and assured her we'd be fine. I pointed out Jack, who we all know from the above basketball scenario doesn't give anything but 100 percent. He was hunched over the table, licking the table top. Some froyo had spilled and he was going to eat it all. I guess you never waste good froyo, no matter what bugs are flying around.
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