b'Matters heart of thematter Thingsthat Matter Since 1990 Memories of MayFeaturing Local People, Places and Corralling my kids for Little League BY ELLEN DONKERPUBLISHER& EDITOR IN CHIEFEllen DonkerASSOCIATEEDITOR W ith the passage of time, sea- T-ball card says. It also lists her coach as Chris Frei who, I Joanne DiPasqualeADVERTISING CONSULTANTS sons often take on differentrecall, advised her during her first time at the tee to remove Rene Conlon kinds of significance. For ourher stuffed bunny peeking from her shirt (Pitter Patter Pat H. Leslie Gilman family,themonthofMaywent everywhere with her) so she could swing the bat un-Adrienne MacWhannellwas once filled with our kidsencumbered. COPY EDITORS schoolandsportsactivities.Those early games were either hysterically funny or mind Nick Humez LittleLeague!Artclasses!numbingly boring. If any of the kids were skilled enough to Tia Swanson Field Day! Girls on the Run! And more. tap the ball off the tee they usually got in a few bases before Although I enjoyed shuttling them around and gettingany of the players ran after the ball. Most were either sitting CONTRIBUTORS to know the other parents who were doing the same drill,in the sand drawing with sticks, watching a fire truck go by, Adrianna Donat, Donny Levit, it lasted just long enough. I have to remember that becauseor distracted by the ice cream truck parked in the lot play-Jamie Meier, Carol Petrallia, Abby Sher,its easy to get sentimental.ing The Entertainer in an endless loop. We parents spent Karen Tedesco, Julia Verderosa Just the other day I was touring the home of a younga lot of effort trying to keep our children on task.FOUNDER & family.WhenIgottothesonsroomandsawalittleOver time, the kids progressed through Little League and CREATIVE CONTRIBUTOR button-down shirt, size 4T, hanging in his open closet,improved enough that by fifth grade the game was watch-Karen Duncan I almost melted. Oh, to have a little boyable. By then a culling of sorts had taken whom I could dress in little-man clothes.place and the kids who never were interested We could read bedtimein baseball to begin with stories together and playfinallygottheirwayto with his stuffed animalspursuetheirrightfulin-that we knew by name.terests whether it was mu-Myheartstartedhurt- sic, Legos or art. ingfromthelossofOur boys finished their thosedays.ButthenIbaseball careers in seventh willed myself to pair thegrade.(EarlierMadeline Please address all correspondence to: memory with the realityhadmovedontosoft-Visual Impact Advertising, Inc. of raising three childrenball.) Playing on the high P.O Box 198 and I felt all better (well,school team was not in the Maplewood, NJ 07040973-763-4900 almost) because nothingcards and they were ready mattersmagazine.comcompares to the days offorsomethingnew.The info@mattersmagazine.com having small children when youre on every waking hourworlds of cross country and ultimate Frisbee beckoned.Matters Magazine is owned and publishedand sometimes into the night.That long stretch of baseball holds many good memo-by Visual Impact Advertising, Inc., P.O.Our fondest memories revolve around Little League sea- ries, despite the frantic scrambles for misplaced cleats and Box 198 Maplewood, NJ 07040. Mattersson, which began with T-ball in kindergarten. Our threegloves and seasons that were cold and rainy at least half the Magazine is free, with editions direct mailedwere all on the same team and were ever so proud to gettime. Its human nature to romanticize the high points of seven times a year to the residents of Maple-wood and South Orange and distributed totheir first uniforms with their team name on the front: thegames won on sunny days and of double rainbows in the businesses and surrounding communitiesNorthern New Jersey Eye Institute. I only know this be- evening sky.totaling 16,000. Subscriptions are availablecause I still have the photo taken of each child in their uni- Farrell Field is just down the street from our house and to non-residents for $30 (U.S.) $40 (Foreign) annually. No part of the publication may beform holding a bat. It was made to look like a trading card.in the evenings the street is often lined with cars. I see reprinted or otherwise reproduced withoutWhich leads me to some advice. Parents of T-ballers:moms and dads crossing the street with their children and writtenpermissionfromVisualImpact Advertising, Inc. buy the photo cards. Although you have a gazillion photosgear in tow. Its T-ball season once again. And while those of your children, you do not have one with your childsdays seem both far away and not so long ago I am happy CIRCULATION VERIFIED BY stats on the back. One day you will look back at it andfor those shiny new parents. I was once one of them. Now U.S. POSTAL RECEIPTS.marvel that your child was once 36 tall, weighed in at 40with kids in college my May is filled with welcome homes, READ & RECYCLE pounds and was a designated hitter. Thats what Madelinesand I cant wait.8/ matters magazine / spring 2019'