Wordful Wednesday. Are You Ready for Some Youth Football.

It’s amazing how lonely uneventful my days are now that all of my Dudes are in school all day.

Whereas we used to spend our days taking awesome photos featuring the sunglasses from the sunglasses of the month club we’re a part of…

Now, I spend my days with the dog (snore) and our evenings are filled with homework and sports practices while our weekends are mostly filled with games, games, and um, yeah, more games.

Not very visually stimulating.

How many weeks will you stick with us if all I ever post here are pictures of my children on the football field?

Even if they are really awesome pictures wherein my children look pretty much like adorable freaking supastars and I literally have to clamp my hands over my chest to keep my heart from bursting out of it when I see them out there…

Probably not long.

So, I swear I won’t bore you weekly with game shots.  I don’t want to become like that annoying person on Facebook who posts 88 pictures of their family’s Labor Day celebration.  Because you care about seeing every single photo they took that weekend of their kid on the beach, and eating BBQ, and running, and breathing and stuff.  Swear.

But, just this once I have to.  It was opening weekend after all…

So many people ask me why I let my boys play youth football.  They wonder if I’m afraid of them being hurt.  If I think they will become mean jocks (yes, people ask this).  If I really want them to be football players.

My answers: I don’t, of course, they friggin better not, and nope.

Allow me to elaborate.

I don’t “let” The Dudes play football.  I choose to encourage them to live what’s in their hearts.  Especially my middle son.  Football is his passion.  It’s what gets him up in the morning.  It’s what he goes to sleep thinking about.  It’s something that he feels drawn to from his arteries on out.  It’s not his only passion, but it is certainly one of them.  I couldn’t take that away from him. I wouldn’t take that away from him.  I mean, not unless I had to.  But, not because of fear.  That’s no way to live.

But, it doesn’t mean that I don’t think about something happening to them every time they set cleat on the field.  Just like I do when I put them on the bus to school everyday, or when I let them go to a friend’s house without me, or when I let them swim in the lake, or skateboard in the street, or jump off of the dresser (okay, so I don’t ever let them do that last one, they do that one even though I explicitly tell them to not to!).  Risk is always an issue, and I’m pretty much always afraid that something is going to hurt them.  For us, the reward is just worth it; the confidence, and the joy, and the everything he gets from being on that football team is worth it.  Also, I will punch anything that tries to hurt my babies dead in the face.  Real talk.

As far as the whole jock mentality issue, seriously?  I’m raising The Dudes to be amazing humans on and off of the field.  And, there will be no attitudes of entitlement or sass in here.  I subscribe to the Bill Cosby school of parenting.  Aka, homie don’t play that.

And, do I want them to be football players?  Doesn’t really matter what I want.  All I care about is what they want and the truth.  They may want to be for real football players one day, and that’s cool.  I will cheer for them, support them, and expect a sa-weet ride and a yard with a pool if they ever go pro.  But, I also keep it real.  The likelihood that they will ever even play this (or any) collegiate sport at a D1 or D2 school is so low that my basically-nonexistent math skills can’t even calculate it.  I may not be the smartest mom on the block, but I know we aren’t hanging our hats on that.  We won’t sacrifice their academics for any sport, we look at it as more of an added bonus, a character building activity, and a way to stay physically fit.  We tell them to keep their grades up and you can play football, not keep your grades up SO you can play football.  Doesn’t mean we don’t strive for excellence, just means we have a little something I like to call perspective.

—Slide soap box back under bed—

So, forgive me for the next few months while I enjoy this…

Oh, and also, are you ready for some football?!

Visit my co-host Seven Clown Circus, link your Wordful posts, and then check out this week’s featured links…

Everyone seems to be talking about the same thing .  No, not football, silly, back to school.  This week we went back to school with A Geek in Glasses, Jumpin’ Beans, The Idea Girl, and Better in Bulk too!

Want to learn more about youth health and safety on the football field?  Check out Heads Up Football.  Really just want to see where we snagged those sweet sunglasses?  Stunner of the Month Club baby, you may never be as cool, but it doesn’t hurt to try!