"Midnight basketball taught them to function without sleep."
We took Abbie to a game last night. It was an exciting men’s college basketball showdown between my hometown Drake Bulldogs and the visiting Cornell Rams. Drake won the game 102-62, which sounds impressive until you realize that Drake, a legitimate Division 1 team as proven by the fact that their scores scroll through the rotation of ESPN2’s BottomLine, was playing Cornell College, a Division 3 school from Iowa, and not Cornell University, the prestigious Ivy League school in New York that also has their scores scroll through the rotation of ESPN2’s BottomLine.
I took Abbie to several Drake basketball games last season, and she enjoyed watching those games, much more than she enjoyed watching anything on television. That was several months ago though when she was still a baby and easily entertained by simple things like shiny objects or reality television. Now she’s a walking and screeching toddler who requires more sophisticated forms of entertainment like climbing on the sofa to get the cat or climbing on the kitchen table to get the Wheat Thins.
This was not an exciting game in the sense that it was supposed to be a blowout, and it was. I wanted to take her to the game to see how Abbie acts at basketball games now. If she’s good, then I may take her to the Drake Bulldogs vs. Iowa State Cyclones game next Monday. Iowa State’s basketball team not only has their scores scroll through the rotation of ESPN2’s BottomLine, but their scores even periodically appear on ESPN’s twice-an-hour update when they only show the Top 25 scores. When Drake plays teams like Cornell, the stands are sparse and we can use an entire row if not a whole section to spread out and keep Abbie entertained jumping on and off benches if need be. Iowa State brings more people though, which means we’ll be sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with other fans. They could be Iowa State fans too, who may already be a little belligerent because of what my shirt says.* I don’t want to bring an irritable child into a crowd where I’ll have limited ability to entertain her for fear that it would severely tick off those around me, or worse, get me kicked out of the game. The Iowa State game will likely be my last big hurrah before the twins come home; I’m not planning on leaving the house for anything short of a doctor’s appointment when they come home, or possibly the grocery store, but that’s only if we’ve run out of milk or milklike substitutes to feed Abbie.
Things started poorly, and not just because we walked in three minutes into the game. Abbie was shriekingly unhappy about something to start. Maybe she was mad about the hat I forced her to wear outside for warmth. Maybe she was upset about all the weird people surrounding her. Maybe she was upset that Cornell hit seven of its first ten shots en route to a 19-14 lead.
Whatever set her off, she calmed down as the game progressed. Ellie bought a glass of Sprite to pacify her, but she was content to sit on my knee and watch 13 grown men randomly move a ball back and forth, which freed me to spill most of the Sprite at halftime.
After we moved to a different section for the second half, she continued to watch quietly. The big exception was she screamed every time the pep band played. Ellie thought that the loud music, when added to the bright lights and fast action, overstimulated her, and screaming was her way of coping. That explanation sounds better than my theory that the pep band was just that bad.**
The worst incident of the night came when Abbie peed through her diaper. This was very disappointing since I changed her right before we left, and her diapers should hold for three hours, or even six hours if I forget to change her. I thought my pant leg felt damp for much of the game, but not wanting to miss any of the exciting action or tedious timeouts, I chalked the moisture up to drool and ignored it. When a gusher flowed from her pants I couldn’t ignore it any longer, especially since it flowed down Ellie’s leg. I hauled Abbie off to the bathroom hoping to not miss anything exciting. On the court, lots of exciting things happened, including several steals and dunks, as Drake scored about ten points in two minutes. I never got to see any of the action, but I did get to hear the crowd reaction so it was like I got to see it.
Shortly after the diaper changing, Abbie hit too hard to handle stage, which was understandable since she missed her bedtime milk half an hour ago. Since Drake had already hit 100, we left with five minutes to go. Drake finished with 102, so we didn’t miss much.
At home I gave her an accelerated bedtime routine. She went to bed about 20 minutes late, which left her a little tired and cranky the next day, but at least it led to a three-and-a-half hour nap this afternoon. I used that nap time to line up a babysitter for next Monday night because I’m not going to risk missing a potentially good game to change a diaper if I don’t have to. I’ll take her to some other games.
* If I feel polite, it’ll say “Drake;” if I feel impish, it’ll say “Beat the Suck-Clones.”
** As a former member of the pep band, I’m allowed to say that.
I took Abbie to several Drake basketball games last season, and she enjoyed watching those games, much more than she enjoyed watching anything on television. That was several months ago though when she was still a baby and easily entertained by simple things like shiny objects or reality television. Now she’s a walking and screeching toddler who requires more sophisticated forms of entertainment like climbing on the sofa to get the cat or climbing on the kitchen table to get the Wheat Thins.
This was not an exciting game in the sense that it was supposed to be a blowout, and it was. I wanted to take her to the game to see how Abbie acts at basketball games now. If she’s good, then I may take her to the Drake Bulldogs vs. Iowa State Cyclones game next Monday. Iowa State’s basketball team not only has their scores scroll through the rotation of ESPN2’s BottomLine, but their scores even periodically appear on ESPN’s twice-an-hour update when they only show the Top 25 scores. When Drake plays teams like Cornell, the stands are sparse and we can use an entire row if not a whole section to spread out and keep Abbie entertained jumping on and off benches if need be. Iowa State brings more people though, which means we’ll be sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with other fans. They could be Iowa State fans too, who may already be a little belligerent because of what my shirt says.* I don’t want to bring an irritable child into a crowd where I’ll have limited ability to entertain her for fear that it would severely tick off those around me, or worse, get me kicked out of the game. The Iowa State game will likely be my last big hurrah before the twins come home; I’m not planning on leaving the house for anything short of a doctor’s appointment when they come home, or possibly the grocery store, but that’s only if we’ve run out of milk or milklike substitutes to feed Abbie.
Things started poorly, and not just because we walked in three minutes into the game. Abbie was shriekingly unhappy about something to start. Maybe she was mad about the hat I forced her to wear outside for warmth. Maybe she was upset about all the weird people surrounding her. Maybe she was upset that Cornell hit seven of its first ten shots en route to a 19-14 lead.
Whatever set her off, she calmed down as the game progressed. Ellie bought a glass of Sprite to pacify her, but she was content to sit on my knee and watch 13 grown men randomly move a ball back and forth, which freed me to spill most of the Sprite at halftime.
After we moved to a different section for the second half, she continued to watch quietly. The big exception was she screamed every time the pep band played. Ellie thought that the loud music, when added to the bright lights and fast action, overstimulated her, and screaming was her way of coping. That explanation sounds better than my theory that the pep band was just that bad.**
The worst incident of the night came when Abbie peed through her diaper. This was very disappointing since I changed her right before we left, and her diapers should hold for three hours, or even six hours if I forget to change her. I thought my pant leg felt damp for much of the game, but not wanting to miss any of the exciting action or tedious timeouts, I chalked the moisture up to drool and ignored it. When a gusher flowed from her pants I couldn’t ignore it any longer, especially since it flowed down Ellie’s leg. I hauled Abbie off to the bathroom hoping to not miss anything exciting. On the court, lots of exciting things happened, including several steals and dunks, as Drake scored about ten points in two minutes. I never got to see any of the action, but I did get to hear the crowd reaction so it was like I got to see it.
Shortly after the diaper changing, Abbie hit too hard to handle stage, which was understandable since she missed her bedtime milk half an hour ago. Since Drake had already hit 100, we left with five minutes to go. Drake finished with 102, so we didn’t miss much.
At home I gave her an accelerated bedtime routine. She went to bed about 20 minutes late, which left her a little tired and cranky the next day, but at least it led to a three-and-a-half hour nap this afternoon. I used that nap time to line up a babysitter for next Monday night because I’m not going to risk missing a potentially good game to change a diaper if I don’t have to. I’ll take her to some other games.
* If I feel polite, it’ll say “Drake;” if I feel impish, it’ll say “Beat the Suck-Clones.”
** As a former member of the pep band, I’m allowed to say that.
posted by Matt at
10:45 PM
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