October 30, 2008 – A Half Hour a Day

Yeah, so what if he’s only 20 months old?!

Okay, so here’s the thing. I’ve been telling you that Mister Baby Boy has an affinity for balls. (Not just his own…toy ones too. And what is WITH that anyway?!) His obsession with balls started when he was about 9 months old. By the time he was walking at 12 months, he could bounce and catch them, and was rolling two balls at a time up his legs, so he could palm them both and bounce them at the same time. We bought him a little toddler basketball hoop for the deck, and he makes shots from four to five feet away. No foolin’. We’ve known he’s a bit advanced in the basketball department for his age, but he can’t really talk yet so we figure it’s all a wash…We joke, “Yeah, he can’t talk, but he can dribble a basketball! That has to count for something!”

So, last night we’re at the YMCA for Little Girl’s gymnastics class. Mister is obsessive as usual and spends his time attempting to sneak into the Big Kid play room where there’s exercise equipment and you guessed it…BALLS! This time there’s a different supervisor in there, and he says, “Here…you want a ball Little Man? I’ll get you a ball!” And proceeds to watch my son in awe as he bounces and catches the ball like it’s second nature (which it is) and begins dribbling one handed. Turns out he’s the basketball coach and program director. He goes on to tell me that he runs a basketball for tykes class for 3 and 4 year olds, but that Mister’s skills are stronger than any of his four year olds. “Holy cow! He catches it every time! And I’ve never seen a kid that small dribble one handed! They always dribble two handed at first.” He then tells me he wants him signed up for the class next session, and that he’ll waive the age limit for him.

So here’s the thing…advice needed here cyberfriends. HE’S A BABY!!!! He won’t be two until February, and the next session starts in January. Do I sign him up and let him play with the big 3 and 4 year olds? Will he get tromped on? He’s getting to be a very good boy now that he understands more, but I don’t think he’ll be able to follow the coach’s directions…(although the coach wasn’t concerned about that. “My four year olds don’t listen to directions either,” he said.) I know he has a talent, but should we really be tapping into it this soon? I don’t want to squash the interest with a “formal” class this soon…but then again, he might have a BLAST! *sigh*