I’ve had the performing bug since I danced to Tony Orlando and Dawn’s “Who’s in the Strawberry Patch with Sally” in my 6th-grade talent show. So when my boys decided to do “Greased Lightning,” a song from the musical Grease , for their school variety show, I was ecstatic.

Unfortunately, my husband’s stint as catcher for Bob’s Big Boy had left just as indelible of an impression. He signed Tanner, 11 and Saxon, 9, up for Little League baseball, and the battle to relive our glory days began.

I knew our act was going to take a ton of work, so we recruited the rest of the T-Birds and got busy. The guys studied Danny Zuko’s moves religiously on YouTube, and we crept into the aerobics studio at our gym so they could practice in front of the mirrors.

Meanwhile, the boys were drafted by the Little League Orioles, and Jimmy began commandeering the calendar with practices, stealing clinics, and sessions at the batting cage. “They’ve gotta learn how to squish the bug!” he said, explaining a special at-bat stance. “Nothing is more important than jazz hands,” I countered.

The boys started wearing their Orioles jerseys 24/7. It’s not like I wanted to bedazzle their baseball pants a la Dancing with the Stars, but did they have to look like such jocks?

Tanner started to catch, Jimmy’s old position, and the coach said he was a natural. Saxon, in right field, became a human vacuum, sucking down anything in his path. My husband was thrilled; I was worried. I was losing them. And then there was the snack shack—how could I compete with warm, post-game chocolate chip cookies?

Luckily, the big show was upon us. The boys blew the roof off the cafetorium, especially when, midway through the song, they turned a life-sized, rickety cardboard car around to reveal a gleaming red racing machine, flames and all. In the end, Tanner and Saxon fell in love with baseball, and didn’t mind the adoration (and signing autographs out on the playground) after the show, either. Jimmy and I were exhausted. But the thrill of watching our kids discover experiences that had brought us such sweetness years ago was worth it.

                                
The show biz gene runs strong on my side of the family. Here I am at age 12 performing in the Daves Avenue Elementary School musical, “George M.”

                            
Saxon: A budding Hank Aaron or the next Fred Astaire?

                             
When he's not practicing his jazz hands, Tanner can be found behind home plate.

LINKS
www.parentingsquad.com/which-kind-of-little-league-parent-are-you

www.familyfun.go.com/parties/kids-games/feature/famf77summer100/famf77summer10020.html