In sports, where trash talk seems to be part of the game, I'm pleased to say my youngest gets some respect. For a three-year old, he seems to know what he's doing, whether it be with a basketball, football, or any other kind of athletic projectile. But baseball is his strong suit. He can hit. He can throw. He can catch... sometimes.

The other day I was picking my ten-year old and two of his friends up from a basketball game at the gym. The boys engaged in some good-natured ribbing of one-another. It was kind of hysterical some of the insults they came up with. Fortunately with me in the car they steered clear of the "Your Mama is so fat..." kinds of jokes! Anyway, I was kind of tickled by the interchange.

Kid #1: "You play baseball like a girl!"

(At this point a few random insults were exchanged.)

Kid #2: "You play baseball like..."

Kid #1: "I already said girl! You can't use that one again!"

Kid #2: (pause) "You play baseball like... him!" (Points at my three-year old)

Kid #1: (pauses to reflect on the insult and then shrugs) "I'm okay with that."

Like I say... the little guy gets some serious respect!

Incidentally, the "playing like a girl" comments were partially meant to tease me since I play with them sometimes and, particularly in basketball, they know I can kick their butts. So they're not a bunch of little chauvinists. They were just trash talking me in the process!

And, on a different note that follows up on my previous post about the crawdad discovery... I think I know what my kids are going to surprise me with next. I was reading an article about a 3-foot long species of worms that is known to exist in the Northwest but is extremely rare. How much you want to bet that my kids will find one when we go up north on vacation and it will turn up in my personal items? I'd better remain on high alert!