Football Season

There are now 2 avid sports fans in my house. I fully expected my son to become a sports spectator, but I didn't expect it would happen at 4 years old. He is very committed to watching his sports. I think it really took off with the World Series last fall, and it has continued into football season. Already he can tell you the names of most all of the teams in the NFL and he remembers stats, like who won which games and what the score was!! His conversations with people start off like this, "Which team is your favorite? Your second favorite? Your third?" And right on down the line until the person he's asking has run out of teams.

I have to admit, I am not exactly overjoyed at this new development. It's not that I mind him being interested in sports (& I should happily add, that at least he likes to play them, too!) It's just that I'm realizing what an intense kid he can be, and when he gets into something, it is all-out. We were at a restaurant last weekend, and as soon as he spotted a TV in the bar area with a basketball game on, all he did the rest of the evening was beg to go in and watch it (this made for a pleasant meal). I want him to have a sense of balance and to know which things are the important things in life. To value people and relationships over sports. It is OK to miss a game. And of course I don't want him to become antisocial as he melts away in front of the TV for hours every weekend. What's a mom to do??? How do we help our boys maintain healthy boundaries around these things they love?

So as I wrestle with all these questions, here is a funny story:

This past Sunday morning, we were all hanging out on our bed, being lazy in waking up and going out to start the day. Suddenly we hear a loud pop. The last time we heard something like that, our oven door had spontaneously combusted, so I quickly went out to investigate. I couldn't find the culprit, so I started on making breakfast. When my son came out, he went to get his football to throw around the house and "make plays" as he does every day. He looked up at me so sadly when he saw his football---it had popped open! The seam down the back was totally busted open and the thing was all flat and deflated. He had tears in his eyes as he told me, "Now I can't play with my football anymore." So sad.

We took these photos right before he said good-bye to his first football.

Thankfully, Papa came home from work tonight with a new junior football in hand.

Oh, the joy.