Sunday, as some of you may know, is Father’s Day, and in honor of that blessed event, Nathan and I are taking our kids to Citi Field for a baseball game [insert joke here about whether or not the 2011 Mets are actually playing something recognizable as baseball].
Anyway, JP recently went to his first pro game, up at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, thanks to some tickets from one of my many rich, crazy uncles. As is customary, he demanded commercial goods for his appropriate behavior, and thus he went home the proud owner of a new and fucking expensive white-and-blue-striped Yankees hat.
JP loves this thing. It is his hat, he picked it out, he wears it when we play catch, it is his first prized possession. Here’s the question, though, do I let him wear to the Mets game?
First, I’m a Met fan and I’m not so sure how I feel about my son pledging allegiance to the other guys in public. Then there’s the safety issue. I know, I know, if I were to ask Nathan, I should probably just strip JP naked and let him crawl to the game in nothing other than that hat—it’s good for him! builds character!—but recent events suggest that this might not be good at all. There was the recent incident of a man being beaten within an inch of his life at a Dodger game, for nothing worse than wearing the gear of the San Francisco Giants.
So what say you, readership? Let the kid wear his cap or no?
Flushing, Sunday day game, Father’s Day, the Angels, and how old is he, five?
You can let him wear the cap and have supreme confidence in his safety. In fact, I am willing to bet that there’s a 33% chance no one will even look twice at him (but a 67% chance that he’ll hear some playful, age-appropriate, totally well-meaning trash talk).
You also have a golden opportunity to win him over to your side–if you can stay after the game, he can run the bases with Mr. Met!
Oh yeah, he’s running the bases! Wish I could do it with him. Why do those damn kids get to have all the fun. –theodore.
You have 2 options:
1. Force him to wear a Mets cap and suffer for the rest of his life.
2. Let him wear the Yankees cap and allow him to grow up as a winner.
I haven’t watched a baseball game in years and it would still cause great sadness in me if my kid liked the Yankees. It’s a tough one you’ve got there.
Your first mistake was taking him to a Yankees game first if you had any hope of him becoming a Mets fan.
You can try telling him you will buy him a Mets hat at the game if he leaves the “old” one at home… This may or may not work but it could take years (if ever) to destroy his love for the blue and white because it is easy to love a team that actually wins…
Alex–first rule of middle class parenting, as I see it: you take free tickets where you can get them. –theodore.