You have to smile.

I just spent a week with my son's family in South Carolina.  I got to go to a baseball practice with my 11-year-old grandson and a softball practice with my granddaughter.  The baseball practice was familiar.  I had sons who played, students who played, and I knew what to expect from boys that age.  It was baseball practice.

On the other hand, my granddaughter's softball practice was...entertaining.   First of all, she is barely 5--the youngest in the coach-pitch league that goes through 9-year olds.  Let me tell you, there are a lot of differences between 5 and 9 year old girls.  Second, she is a very girly girl.  She even runs delicately.  She gently and gracefully puts her toe on the bag, she sometimes spins around before picking up a ball from the ground, and when she comes in from the field she is often skipping.  One of her coaches made a circle on the field so she would remember where to stand.  

Her mother says that when she comes to bat, the audience smiles and "aaahs" because she is so small.  Once the coaches have managed to get her to stand in the right place and hold the bat correctly, there are no expectations.  She does, however, occasionally hit the ball.  It doesn't go very far, but enough that she can sometimes dance her way to first base. She says that makes her coach call her his secret weapon.  They are very sweet with her.  (You can click to see the picture better.)

I don't know if she will always like softball, but she does like to visit with others and play games so she's having fun.  That is really what matters now.