Dateline Dayton — Although it rained off and on during the day, we were at the ball park last Friday evening for the Dayton Dragons game, courtesy of a vendor at a meeting the day before.

It started to rain shortly after we reached the ball park. As it turned out, the game was only a half hour late getting started. Happily, the game ended early with the Dragons winning.

Since the tickets were given to us, we were not in our regular seats. The seats were upstairs where two couples and a little girl, 2 years old, were in our section. At first they sat in the front row, knowing they were not in the correct seats. The mother left the little girl play on the railing, sometimes paying no attention to her. Normally an usher will come and tell you that you must stay in your seats, not on this night. I could imagine the little girl tumbling over the rail.

Fortunately, the people who actually had the seats in the front row came and the young family had to move to their correct seats. Now I could relax, not worrying whether the child would fall.

Now for my other complaint about this family. During the entire game, including the time in the front row, the father only held this girl once, briefly. The mother, visibly pregnant, held or was solely responsible for the little girl. Taking care of a child should be always be a joint responsibility. Just shows today’s lack training in caring for children.

The next morning I went over to our son Chris’s to seal the grout, take care of other loose ends and to gather up my tools. Pauline came by to inform me that our granddaughter, Julia, was playing soccer and had a game at 2 o’clock.

When Pauline and I arrived at the soccer field, we learned that this was Julia’s fourth game of the day. The games were actually scrimmage games lasting only 45 minutes. They had won the first three but lost this one.

Afterward, I went back to Chris’s place, gathering up some additional tools. Time then for a short nap prior to leaving for our Saturday night Dragons game. Our daughter, Lisa and two of her children were attending the game, too, in the section next to ours.

Since Jarod’s birthday was during the week, I arranged for a birthday greeting to appear on the scoreboard. I also got him a pin, which he put on his shirt, letting everyone know he was celebrating his birthday.

The Dragons won this game barely. Leading 4-0 in the ninth, they gave up three runs. Excitement to the end.

Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net