Football Mom

I have been very careful not to overstretch my family with commitments over the years. Each kid has taken their turn playing sports and doing an extracurricular activities. In the spring I finally bit the bullet and committed Daniel to play football. This has been the biggest time commitment by far and I knew that going in. If I wasn't off on maternity leave for 7 of the 10 weeks, I honestly don't think I would have signed him up, at least not for the first year when I really wasn't sure how much time it would require of us.

But I am glad I let him play. He practices 3 days a week and has been pretty good at getting homework done right after school. Most of the time BJ is home in time to take him to practice and then pick him back up after the other kids are in bed. His team is 4-0 and Daniel is so excited! His basketball team never won a game, so it feels good to win. Even though he doesn't get to play a lot, it does something for his self esteem to see his team win. He was the first captain last week which meant he got to lead the team in stretches and got to talk to the refs (his words) at the beginning of the game on Saturday.

Last week Daniel almost had an interception. The ball came right to him but he wasn't able to hold on to it. Now he prays for another chance at an interception each week. He hasn't complained once about not getting to play as much as some kids (it is his first year), but he eagerly await his turn on the sidelines and cheers on his team while he waits. His coaches are doing really good teaching and encouraging him, so this has been a really good experience for him.

And I love football! We go to the games as a family and cheer him on. Seth is so funny copying whatever he hears people yelling. He likes to yell "Go Daniel!" as loud as he can regardless of whether Daniel is on the field at that moment. He'd has also sweet talked other parents out of candy and other food during the game.

When football is over, I'm sure he'll feel like he has so much free time. Hopefully he'll continue to do his homework first thing without complaining and enjoy time to play. I think he'll want to play again next year, and as long as he can keep a good attitude and stay in top of his school work, I'm happy to sign him up again.