Parlor Tricks

Joshua, Rebecca and Ruth attended a lot of basketball games the past few months. Caleb played for the in town league and Grace played on an in town and a travel team. Many Saturdays, we had three games. Add in the two tournaments that Grace played in and the youngest three know their way around many gyms. The funny thing about bringing them to games is how their personalities come out. Joshua loves going to the games. He loves it because he wants to play with his friends. And no matter what gym we go to, he finds a friend and plays with someone. Rebecca loves the chaos of the gym. She knows her parents will be distracted by cheering or coaching, so she gets to run around. She climbs up and down stairs, bleachers and even closed bleachers. She craves a little more unsupervised time in her life. (Even though it is not a good thing for her.)

I always thought that was all they were doing at the games. I recently learned how wrong I was. They have both spent the time in the gym working on some children tricks as well. What kind of tricks? Parlor tricks, of course.

Joshua has learned the number of all 30 kids on the three different teams. If you give him a number from one of the teams, he can tell you the player's name. I guess he has a thing for numbers. He just picked them up because we don't really talk about Grace and Caleb's teammates in terms of their jersey numbers.

Rebecca has taught herself how to dribble. Three week's ago, Rebecca, Caleb and I went to Caleb's game. Since I am a coach, Rebecca knew she was in for a serious lack of supervision. Halfway through the game, she came over to the sideline by me. I looked down and she was dribbling the ball. I think I have seen her get four or five dribbles in a row, but I think that is pretty good for a two-year old.

It is fun to watch what the kids pick up.