Budding Orator

Last week we attended the last T-ball game of the season, followed by the team party at the local pizza parlor. OP enjoyed the pizza, as is evident from his marinara, slightly toothless grin, and happily added the trophy to his growing collection. During the party the coach made a few comments about each player as he passed out trophies. After some time, the team mom brought out the coach's present and asked Oliver if he would help to give it to the coach. Once he understood she wanted him to hand the gift over publicly, Oliver staged himself in the center of the room and prepared to make a speech. When we had gathered the attention of those in attendance, he began, "I think we had a good season. It was good for me, and it was good for some of the rest of the players. And I'm glad to say that everyone made improvements during the season..." There were a few more words, but his parents were getting nervous at this point: how long would he go on? was he about to say something uncharitable about fellow players? will he remember to thank the coach? So we both started whispering, "And thank you, Coach," both to make sure the sentiment was included in the speech and bring the speech to a close. Thank goodness our budding orator got the message. He thanked the coach and sat down. Whew!