A Football Epiphany

I was begged, pleaded, cried, coerced, talked to, stared at into signing my boys up for football. I didn't want the HUGE time commitment or the generally football-crazy coaches screaming at my children to run until they vomit. Preconceived ideas but a worry still the same. (In hindsight I should have been worrying about the fact that every check I write is to their organization for one thing or another). I signed them up. My younger, who I believe weighed so much at birth because he came out with a football in his hand, literally quivered when they put his helmet on. It actually gave him the chills. "Here we go.", I thought.

There have been some great things that have come from this new family adventure. My boys have exercised more than they ever have before. They are strong and becoming stronger. They are confident. They are being given chances to work hard and succeed to the cheers of a whole team of people. They are learning how to work hard even when you don't feel like it because people are counting on you. They get to play in the dirt! The coaches have been great (with the exception of one that I want to throw a yellow flag at and kick off the field).

The epiphany part: The first practice, I set up my chair, had my water, put on my sunglasses and then started to look around and watch the kids, parents and families. There were boys everywhere---literally. I watched them: catch grasshoppers, chase yellow jackets, shove each other, squirt each other with their water bottles, kick dirt, make all sorts of unimaginable noises with different body parts, scream, pee on trees, chase each other, try to out kick, out throw, out run, and out 'whatever else you can think of' each other. Moms and dads were running after the particularly rambunctious ones, screaming their names over and over again. I heard one mom say to another, "Well, we are the parents of boys, we know how to roll with it." I got that. I understood that. I related to them and all 280 loud, wiggly, lovely boys. This was worth the time commitment, all those checks I had to write and so much more. My boys are just that, wonderful, curious, energetic awesome boys.