Whispers and Shouts: Our Big Little Sports Fans

We didn’t exactly intend to create giant sports fans or kids who think they are athletes, but we seem to have done just that with Cal and Clark. Maybe it’s that there are two of them, and therefore there is constant opportunity for competition and teamwork everywhere they turn. And maybe it’s also that Brian and I like sports a little.

One of the most recent sports elements that has become a part of our nightly routine is that the boys pick out their “jerseys” the night before their "big game." And there’s a “big game” every day. I assure you neither of us had anything to do with this idea. I think it's pretty clear that I never think about what I'm going to wear the night before. I have no idea where the concept came from. Fortunately they have turned nearly every shirt they own into a “jersey.” If there’s any image or decoration on the shirt, they name it a team, and declare it a jersey. My favorite nonsensical one is a Hawaii souvenir t-shirt from Aunt Kristi with snow cones across it. For some reason, that team is The Bugs.

They not only pick out their jerseys, they also like them to be hung up on hangers displayed on their "lockers" (closet handles), ready for the game in the morning. When they get up in the morning, they take the jerseys off their hangers and lay them out on the living room floor before they get dressed, as they discuss the upcoming game and its importance.

Jerseys for tomorrow's game

They are always aware of which shirts are dirty, which are clean, and want to know when we will have their favorite ones clean. If, on any given day, there is a Redskins or Capitals shirt clean, at least one of them will most likely be wearing it.

A Redskins shirt and accompanying Redskins pants
(two sizes too big) make up the most desirable outfit
in their wardrobe. Whoever has the Outfit has the Power.

For awhile they would make football helmets from their astronaut helmets left over from Halloween. One of them would get the adult-sized catcher’s mask to go over top of the helmet. Since the helmets were made of paper mache, and made in October, they were pretty beat up (despite lots of lovingly-applied duct tape and electrical tape) and recently I had to throw them both away.

Brian bought yellow washcloths and rubber-banded lentils in them for penalty flags that they can now throw whenever they deem fit. We use them as well, whenever we feel like it. It will usually stop play that might be getting a little too rough, or too near the fire.

Proof that they loved their helmets: Cal set up and took this picture.

Another frequent occurrence around here is for the boys to be running around with laundry hampers on their heads and any other odd assortment of costumes, hats, scarves, gloves, etc, claiming to be mascots and/or the Nationals Presidents, that, “You don’t have to be afraid of, Mom.” Phew. Good thing. Calvin especially obsesses over it. He likes to empty out every possible container and stack them all on his head. So odd.

Hamper-head here expects to be taken seriously.
(He's wearing two hampers and a block container.)

About a month ago I woke up after a delightful weekend morning of sleeping in, to find Brian and the boys just completing a hockey rink made of painters tape and masking tape in the middle of our living room floor. Awesome. It started when the boys asked Brian to teach them what the lines on the rink meant. Now they know. That rink adorned our carpet for over a month and provided excellent entertainment.

Face-off circles and all!

The boys tried making skates. Among other methods of skate-creating, Cal put two of the car parts from the Duplo block set and had me strap them on his shoes with rubber bands.

They have had hockey sticks since last hockey season and this year Brian made them a puck out of two lids with play-doh inside it and a Capitals logo on one side and their minor league team’s logo on the other side.

Anything with clear plastic can be converted into a penalty box or the clear front part of the helmet, and we frequently use the “penalty box” as a discipline tool. It goes over better than a real timeout, even though it's exactly the same. It's all in the name.

Play-doh inside the puck

Puck

Cal's skates

Mittens= hockey gloves, baseball glove= goalie's glove, plastic container= goal

Saran wrap hockey helmets- another of Cal's inventions

We stopped by the Captals’ practice rink the other day and the boys were in awe at the size and the penalty boxes and the amount of jerseys for sale.

We’ve also found a local kids hockey class at a rink near our house and they will probably start next fall. We took them ice skating for the first time ever last weekend- at a seasonal outdoor rink across from our house. They were in heaven. Since I can’t skate in my with-child condition, Brian alternated between boys. While one boy was off the ice with me, whoever it was would ask me to interview him about how his game was going. Clark is always Alex Ovechkin and Cal is Mike Green. (Though when they were first learning players’ names, Clark was Alex O’Redskin.) Clark has been reminding me daily that the rink is “just a short walk, Mom.” I’m sure we’ll be back soon.

Cal-ex Ovechkin

Clarky Ovechkin

Getting their skates on with Dad!

Woot!

I didn't get a good picture, but their grins were gigantic.

Something Brian has done to teach the boys about sports tournaments as we watch them, has been to put up tournament brackets on our hallway wall. During the baseball playoffs and the football playoffs we’ve had team names and logos pasted all over the wall. They cross off games and write down scores and when it’s the Nats and the Redskins being eliminated,we're all sad.

October playoffs!

There go the Redskins...

When we’re outside, one of their favorite things to do is play “swing and a long drive,” which is them calling the Nationals' Jayson Werth’s game winning home run from the playoffs. They scream and yell and whoever is Jayson Werth, throws his helmet way into the air and they jump all over. They also randomly ask to watch the video replay of the moment. Or maybe that's me...

It's a game-winning, season-saving home run, for Jayson Werth!

Even when we found out about Peapod’s sex, it somehow turned into a competition. Cal had been saying the whole time that he wanted a sister, and Clark that he wanted a brother. When I told them they’d be having another brother, Clark raised his arms in ecstatic victory. “I win! I win! Cal loses!” Oops.

Here are some other sports pictures.