Boys' Basketball Gathering

On Saturday, we enjoyed hosting the most delightful boys' basketball game at our home, our having bought a junior-sized basketball net recently.

I didn't want to post photos of other people's sons,
so these photos are taken from earlier in the week,
with just John shooting hoops.

For no known reason, most of my closest friends have mostly girl children, so John doesn't get to pal around with boys as often as he'd like. This is one reason I make such an effort to drive the 45 minutes each way on Tuesdays to let the children play at the family's 18-acre property, where the six hardy, Marine-raised boys of that family and the many other boys who show up really get to be "rough and tumble." The girls have fun too, but it's the boys' company for John that gets me there most weeks.

Yes, the net placement in front of my garden
is poor placement, but we don't have a better spot yet.

Sporting our new basketball hoop, we made an open invitation to the local homeschooling community for boys ages six to nine plus their fathers to join us. We wanted to invite that narrow band of ages so the boys wouldn't be too athletic yet. Boys John's age often get overshadowed by big brothers who are good at the sports. Ask Chris, youngest of five boys, how he knows. We wanted to let these boys shine and revel in all their youthful awkwardness.

Nine exuberant boys and their fathers showed up to the event, so it was a great crowd. Our pine straw still hasn't been spread, so Chris took the bales and created a "court" at the top of the driveway so balls wouldn't roll down into the street.

We started by serving lunch: I think I've finally learned some tips to keeping these events easy. Believe me, I am not a Hostess with the Mostess--I'd tell you to ask my husband and mother-in-law, but they're too polite to tell you the unvarnished truth--and having people in my home paralyzed me with fear still even five years ago, so I rarely hosted. One practice I learned initially from my friend R. (who had to keep her home ready for showings for about a whole year, despite having little kids in the home) is to keep the home basically near-ready to have guests over all the time. Believe me, I've had to let go of housekeeping ideals a long time ago, they're dead and gone, may they rest in peace. But by sticking to my Ma's Tasks of the Day all week, no area has gone more than one week since being cleaned, and that's Pretty Good (for being a homeschooling mother of four--a caveat!). Plus I weight the heaviest cleaning for Wednesday (kitchen), Thursday (bathrooms), and Friday (all floors), so the house always looks best on the weekends, which is when we're most likely to have guests visit.

Second, I now always keep big amounts of paper products on hand, and I'm not ashamed to use them (even with adult guests, not just little boys).

Third, we served food that was manufactured, quick, and cheap: frozen pizzas, frozen pigs-in-a-blanket, pre-cut fruit, juice boxes, and chocolate milk boxes. Voila, happy boys. There will be time for my guests being served organic, homemade, gourmet creations, but this season--for me--apparently is not that time.

Chris had prepared a program of events, not because he's a basketball pro but precisely because he isn't, so he went online to figure out what would be a good way to teach basic skills. He did a super job.

6-9 Year Old Basketball

•Lunch

•Warm Ups

•Drills

•Dribbling

•Bounce Pass

•Chess Pass

•Shooting

•Game of H.O.R.S.E.

We hope to repeat this event, maybe even have it become somewhat regular. Maybe basketball for six Saturdays in the spring, soccer for six Saturdays in the fall?