Parenting: Just like Baseball

I've never been good at team sports. Ask anyone who knows me or has known me. My good friend and I discovered in our college years that the only reason we both played softball from little league through middle school was because her dad was the coach - - not because we really liked it or my hand-eye coordination improved when I got contact lenses in fifth grade.

My coordination didn't improve until I became a mom. And it was only then, working tandem with my husband, that I discovered the value of team sports.

On any given night, the sippy cup only sails half a dozen times from the high chair to the floor, since I snap it out of the air on the other fifty attempts. We track our toddler's movements around the living room like she's a player running bases - - by the sound of her footsteps and exclamations just as much as sight. Oh... she's made it to the television. Woah - - now she's rounded the stairs and is coming up on her toy bin. Yes, the tupperware drawer has been emptied again and the melamine salad bowl has slid across the tile into the french doors like a puck slamming into a hockey goal. My husband and I communicate across through a complicated series of hand gestures that could send the most seasoned baseball player into a tizzy. Point and shrug? Translation: Can you take her a minute?

It's been quite the excellent, far from perfect, adventure. We've stumbled, we've gotten a few things right (maybe?), and we've learned to accept that parenting is an iterative process. But this blog is definitely not an homage or critique about our parenting thoughts...

It's something that we've been searching for and had trouble finding: a Maryland area resource for parents of young kids written BY parents.

There are lots of great sites out there with information. But we were still craving more information: Will my stroller fit through the aisles of the super chic baby store? Is there an easy exit route if my child has a meltdown in the supposedly 'kid friendly' museum exhibit? Good grief, is there something OTHER than chicken nuggets and grilled cheese on the kid's menu? (Ok, yes, we're a bit into Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution... that might creep in from time to time.) The paved trail has two flights of stairs and I'm a mile into it?!? They want me to change my child where?

We're exploring kid-friendly, local places, products, events and everything else related to raising cool, active, inquisitive little progeny. And we're hoping you join us on the adventure and contribute your thoughts, too.

After all, parenting is a team sport. Welcome to our team.