Tuesday, June 26, 2012

wingman

Being single is weird.

Like...really weird.

I guess if I'd never have been married or if I'd had more experience with being single I wouldn't think so, but still, to this day there are aspects of single life that just seem foreign to me.

Example: I have single friends who spend, what seems to me, to be ridiculous amounts of time on the search for, luring of, and capture, of a man. Those three things seem to be what incorporates the bulk of their free time.  I won't get into how much time they spend readying themselves for these men, but I guess I'm just not that way.

Since becoming single I will admit that I at least look for men these days. I spent three months on a dating site, and in a bar or a restaurant, I'll look around at all the patrons, taking notice of the inventory, so to speak. (Seriously, I never really did this before.)

But suffice it to say I don't spend my days as that single divorcee who waits for the UPS man in her slinky bathrobe.

Yesterday I took the day off from work because our regular sitter was unavailable and darn it, its summer and I have PTO. I had planned to spend the day at the lake with my boys, swimming and sand-castling until the sun went down, but wouldn't you know it, we woke up to temps that barely hit 70° instead of what's become the usual 90°.

This Momma didn't feel like spending the day with chattering teeth, so instead I suggested we spend an afternoon at a local park that's got a free splash pad. The kids could get wet and I could just sit and watch. (Genius, no?)

We've been to this park many times because it also has a playground and a baseball diamond, and if you ask my children, a park just isn't a real park if it doesn't have a ball diamond. We had a picnic lunch, then the kids splashed until they got chilled, then we headed over to the baseball diamond. After about 45 minutes of that we took a snack break and Nick headed over to the playground.

While we were snacking, a man and his daughter showed up for a little batting practice.

At first I told Will to stay away...to let the other family have their turn. But after awhile I realized that was silly, and when he asked me if he could go play with them, I instructed him to ask first. I mean, I've pitched to more than my fair share of random park children and don't mind it at all.

This nice Dad of course said yes, and chuckled when Will, already having broken the ice with his "can I play with you guys?" question loudly announced, "HI! I'M WILL!" then took his place as catcher. (Yes, totally down in his stance and everything.) Not too long after that Nick joined them as well and the four of them played baseball for nearly an hour while I sat nearby and read.

Not wanting to overly strain this poor man, I eventually told my kids we had to go, seeing as we'd already spent most of our day at the park. I called Will over and said, "Make sure you say thank you to that nice man, OK? It was very kind of him to let you and Nick play!"

To which he responded loudly, "OK Mom I will! But what's your phone number? I need to give it to that guy so that he can call us in case he wants to come play baseball with us again!"

Who needs match.com?

Wingman :)

Honestly, I have no idea if that man was married or single, but he seemed very kind and patient. When I told this story to my friend she said something along the lines of, "So? Was he wearing a ring?" Which, to be honest, I hadn't checked. I had to reply, "I dunno, I couldn't tell. He was wearing a baseball glove!"

15 comments:

Avitable said...

Haven't you seen Sleepless in Seattle? Kids are the best wingmen ever!

I'm thinking of renting one just to bring with me everywhere.

Anonymous said...

What a hoot! At least you know this guy's got your kid's stamp of approval--should you meet again!

Unknown said...

As a man who once was divorced-single, I can tell you that you have stumbled upon the great matchmaker - children at the park. See? you've done better by accident than many people do on purpose. Keep it up. You'll find/lure/capture one - if that's what you want.

Nancy said...

Awesome. Kids and dogs are way better than any dating site.

Tara R. said...

He's a natural. You could play this to your advantage.

Unknown said...

Didn't I tell you that he was being a wingman for you! Did you atleast get the phone number? If not then........epic fail! :)

Melisa Wells said...

LOVE IT! After he finds you a guy he should be the star of his own reality show: "Kid Matchmaker".

(Don't rely on the "Is he wearing a ring?" thing, though. Just sayin. ;) )

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

Oh, that is awesome.

Steph

Kim Moldofsky said...

Hilarious. So did he give the guy your number?

Michelle said...

That's awesome! I adore it. You're going to have to go stalk that park now, aren't you? Too bad he hasn't already memorized your number to where he can just hand it out for you. Can you imagine the random calls you'd get then?

tiarastantrums said...

kind of sounds like a bit of fate there??

Maureen Fitzgerald said...

Rule #1: make sure the kids know your number so they can give it out without asking you first...wait, that might not be the best idea. First, make sure they know your type THEN teach them the number!

Kat said...

I have to admit, you got two pretty handsome wingmen!!

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Definitely a good wingman. Especially when they're all well-behaved. Maybe not-so-much if they're whining and stuff. I could never get a date if I ws single right now. Not if my kids were with me. Good Lord...

Kimberly said...

That is priceless, I love it!