Just Turn It Off

Just like that, he flipped the switch.

Both of my boys got an amazing skill... and not from me.  They have my passion about their own likes (and dislikes for that matter - little guy is NEVER going to like broccoli, no matter how many times he tries it) but they definitely possess an ability to let go that I have never attained.  I call it "flipping the switch".  Turning it off.  Letting it go.  Moving on and not looking back.

It's amazing to me, really.  I still mull over conversations I had 20 years ago, replaying them in my mind wondering what other path I might have taken and what that might have led towards.  It's a curse, really.  Not necessarily a regret though.  Just an inability to turn it off.

I guess I have a lot of lights on upstairs.

Our final football games occurred this weekend.  Knowing exactly what we were most likely entering, little guy had huge passion and fire.  He was excited.  He was nervous.  Despite a rough season, he wanted to leave his heart all over that field.

He did.  He worked hard.  He made mistakes.  And he loved every progress and success.  As he sat on the field after the final game, he fought back tears.  Not tears of disappointment - he knew better than that.  Tears that once again the game he loves has come to end.  His pure love of the game is an awesome thing to witness.

We hugged a lot last night.  We wrapped up on the couch for a few hours.  We snuggled before bed talking about it.

And today, it is gone.  The switch is flipped.  He isn't dwelling.  He isn't sad.

It's basketball season.

I wish I could do that.  All of that passion, excitement, drama, anxiousness, stress... all shut off.

And who says we can't learn from our children.

Have a great Monday, friends!

Jen

Here I Go Again on my Own...

I'm officially a widow. 

 

 

Yep, it's here.  Football season brings about a whole other life in our house.  It's not just about the boy, either.  I think Hubs should have been a professional coach or something.  Maybe the trainer that jabs the cortisone in knees?  I don't know - but somehow he belonged permanently on a sideline.

 

Alas - he chose finance instead.  Totally similar choice.

 

And so, each year around mid-summer, I start to lose my Hubs.  His nights begin to drag out into the wee hours of the morning, forcing different bed times.  I'm totally entrenched in snoozeville by the time he comes up.

 

There are a thousand white boards in my house.  Literally.  A thousand. 

 

Well, except for this year.  He just decided to make it permanent and painted an entire wall in our house with white board paint.

 

Oh yes he did.

 

I guess I don't mind.  At least it eliminates the zillion pieces of legal paper usually laying around with X's and O's and plays written all over them.

 

Who am I kidding.  I'll still have those, too.

 

Although practice is only three days a week, it is countless in my house.  Little guy will throw down in the living room to prove how long he can hold his flutter kicks... while we are trying to throw down dinner at 9:00 pm.  Hubs is constantly throwing out play calls to the kid for memorization.  Both of them smell a little... well, icky.  It's not unusual to find little guy's cup sitting on the kitchen counter, cleats with mud clots all over the garage and MANY loads of laundry.

 

And me?  I'm stuck at home, most likely playing Candy Crush  (if anyone knows of a support group, please let me know.  I need to go desperately.  Like right now.  Shhh, don't tell anyone!) 

 

Sure I can go sit at practice.  That's productive.  Not moving laundry, not preparing dinner, just sitting.  Nope, not my idea of multi-tasking very well.  I simply can't use my time that unwisely.

 

Plus little guy wouldn't even know I was there (let alone care).

 

To top it all off, baseball season isn't even over yet.  Double elimination tournament starts this week as well.

 

Oh... and in case I was bored, it appears basketball will begin this week, too. 

 

So when I'm not being a widow, I am a chauffeur.  Does anyone know if you can hire car service to take your kids to activities?  Maybe hire a cab?

 

Just kidding.  Sort of.

 

True story - my mother called a cab once to bring me home from Landmark Skate Center when I was 10 years old.  I cried when I got home and yelled at her because I had to ride all the way home with a strange man I didn't know and I was terrified.  Yep, she was a mom of the year once, too. 

 

Have a great Monday, friends.  Try not to drown... it's only the beginning of the week!
 

 

 

, Jen

 

 

 

Freeze Frame

Bring out the scarves.  The hats (I love hat head, by the way).  The boots.  3 layers of clothes.

It must be football season in the fall.... 38 degree weather, frost on the ground, 20 mph winds.

We are in playoff season for football and the Saturday morning freeze out has descended upon us.  Today we will go scream in the freezing cold wind (as there are never trees on or around a football complex for some strange reason).  Our noses will run, the boys faces will be bright red and they will complain their hands hurt from the cold.

But still, they will get in their 3 point stances, fire off the line and try to crush their opponents.

I've had a lot of conflicting opinions about this football season but one thing I still know to be true:  I absolutely love watching my son play football.  Just as I loved watching my oldest play.  More than just a team sport, these boys have had to learn how to trust each other explicitly.

We all need to do that a little more in our lives.

So off I go to freeze.  Wish me luck.  By the end of the game I'll be a frozen mess.

That's what hot chocolate is for.

Have a great Saturday, friends!


Jen

The Lost Art of Etiquette

Fall football... is there anything better?  Little guy played his first game under the lights this season and it was incredible.  Well, except for the refs and their hankies.

I absolutely love this sport.  Honest, I do.  I love the strategy behind every play and position.  It truly is a complex machine knowing that if 5 linemen do their jobs, the other 6 will run and do theirs simultaneously and miraculously one of them will slip through the specific hole he was assigned and run 50 yards for a touch down.  The mere fact that a group of 10 year old boys can understand this is amazing to me.  I can't even understand the rotation of a volleyball team, let alone all of this!

Touchdown!

Being a boy mom is so easy in so many ways, or so it seems.  I'm surrounded by girls both in our family and in my friendship circle.  The stories, concerns and battles I hear my friends share over their daughters it totally overwhelming to me.  Obviously we aren't in the 50's any longer, so etiquette training is not front and center.  I don't think a single friend I have has spent time with their daughter teaching them to stand up with proper posture with a book on their head or lift their pinky finger when drinking tea.  I could be wrong... I don't live inside their houses.  But it just doesn't seem to be priority any longer to teach girls to "be a lady".

Nope, thank you feminism.  In this generation we teach girls they can do anything a boy can do... and better.  Well, can't we?  Hmmm... I gottta be honest.  I fly my fem flag all the time, but I can't do everything my husband can do.  And quite frankly.... I don't want to!

Contrary to women's rights, I do still teach my boys chivalry.  Because as a woman, I really like it when men are chivalrous.  And it truly isn't that often.

I want my boys to open doors for women and let them walk through first.  Or open car doors for them.  Or let them order first (and offer to pay for it!)  I want them to know women like to feel special, as if they are the only one in the room.  And I want them to have manners and not burp, fart, cuss or act like general a~holes around women... at least when they first meet them anyway.

My oldest has drastically changed since boot camp.  If nothing else, his manners have definitely been refined.  Not only is he holding doors, he is saying "yes, ma'am and no sir" to people he meets and speaks with.  A little formal for my taste, but so respectful.  I like it.  And he is not allowing drama into his family unit... he is refusing it completely.  I LOVE that.  Very protective and unfortunately required given some of his family interactions.

A lot of my friends have their children address hubs and I as Miss Jen and Mr. Tim (or Davis).  I always feel a bit strange about it but I get it totally.  They are trying to hold onto a level of adult respect with their kiddos.

I think we all need more of that.

As we were in the car coming home from his game last night, little guy dropped a profound on me.  I love when he blurts stuff out in his rambling sense (just like his momma) and doesn't even know what it holds.

I really like my team, mom.  We've got each other's backs.

Yes bud, you do.  Welcome to a family.  They may come together in different ways but it is always a positive experience when you know people truly care about you and you have common goals.  Chivalry

still does exist... even on a football field!

Have a great Sunday, friends.  I'll be spending mine slathered in more football after a 12 mile run!
 Jen 

Are You Ready for some FOOTBALL?!

Just like that, we go from the high of winning the world series to the anticipation of  a new football season.

The moods in my house flow like a raging river ~ multiple twists, turns, falls and rocks.

This season is filled with anticipation, excitement and a tad bit of anxiety.  For the first time in 15 years, my husband is not coaching football. 

No more coaches meetings, team parties and money gathering.  No more equipment in my garage (or basement, or living room, or kitchen).  No more helmets lining my garage.  No more dragging of the dummies into the back of the truck three times a week.  No more white boards laying all over the living room with a million plays written on them.  Well, maybe that part will still be the same. 

I'm a bit sad.  I loved the preparation for football season.  It was so fun to see all of the families of our returning athletes.  Hug them.  Ask them how their summer was going.

But mostly, I will miss the boys.  In a few short weeks of conditioning, I came to know and love the boys my son's both played football with.  They gave me a million reasons to smile.  15 ten year old boys ~ pulling pranks, making jokes, working hard, smelling AWFUL.  In the end... all of them loving the sport of football.

Tonight kicks off our first official football practice.  As parents, we will sit on the sidelines and watch our little guy work hard at the sport he loves.  We will cheer him on when he completes a task well.  Take mental notes of things he can improve.  And embrace our new role as spectators.

It will definitely be different.

Have a great Monday, friends! 

Jen