It's Football Season In Our House

This post is part of a series called Family Fanatics from Fanatics.com The series highlights how athletics is one of the best ways to bring families together.  

Fanatics.com is the leading online retailer for everything sports.  

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It is football season in our house.  And that makes me feel all kinds of emotions.  I'm nervous about my boys getting hurt.  Like really nervous.  But the joy that I see in my boys overrides that nervousness most of the time.  They love it.  

Peyton looking very teenager-y after a scrimmage.

They love playing and working hard, and competing.    They love spending time with their friends.  They love spending time with their dad who is one of the coaches.

This is the first year that JT has played real tackle football, with gear, shoulder pads and a helmet.  He is so excited.  Since school hasn't started yet, it's sort of all he thinks about.  I tell him to go get dressed in the morning and he comes downstairs with his football gear on, seven hours before practice.  

JT ready for his day.

When I tell him he can't keep it on all day, he keeps it close by all day.

JT wants to be like his big brother.  He wants to play football.  

Football is all toughness and tenacity, life lessons, grit, teamwork, speed and sportsmanship.  It's a love of the game thing, it's a brother thing. 

They have been practicing for a few weeks now and their first games are this weekend.  I'm still nervous about them getting hurt or disappointed with playing time or a loss.  I'm nervous about those things everyday though.  So this Sunday, I will be in the bleachers with the rest of the family to watch my boys play because it's football season in our house.

Confessions of a Reluctant Sports Mom

This weekend was full of football.  There was rainy football, 

sunny football and backyard football.

It was a lot of football.  And I am one conflicted sports mom.  

I grew up with football.  Not just any football, SEC football.  My grandparents had a picture of Jesus and a picture of University of Alabama's head football coach Bear Bryant on their wall.  It was revered.

I was a fan too.  I was the girl that actually watched the game at the bar with the guys in college. I knew rankings and stats and players' bios.  But now, I am a sports mom and I am conflicted.

I hugged him with relief after his first game this year.

Now I watch football and I worry about every player like they are my own son.  Why are people hitting so hard?  Why are we all cheering for people to get hurt? It's too much.  No wait, too much is watching my own sons play football. 

**Disclaimer** The program my son has played with this year has been wonderful.  The coaches and parents have been supportive and encouraging.  This whole conflicted thing is all on me.

But this past weekend, I was caught on tape sounding a little less conflicted which quite frankly makes me more conflicted.  Check out my Reluctant Sports Mom Confession vlog:



(If you are an email subscriber, click here to watch the video http://youtu.be/W75crDm-H3k) 

Are you a sports mom?  A football mom?  How do YOU feel about the game?

My Boys & Baseball

Baseball is part of the fabric of our family.

I love baseball.  But more than that, I love the way my boys love baseball.  It is pure.  It is deep.  It is what baseball movies are all about.  

This is one of our favorite movies around here...The Sandlot.
 


I love the way my boys will sleep with their mitts (and even baseballs), compare baseball cards and play catch all. the. time.

I love that when my oldest son went on his first sleepover at his cousin's house, he called his dad to talk Detroit Tigers' stats when he got a little homesick.

I love how they have always played baseball anywhere--in the backyard, on the beach, in the park, in the kitchen.  They use bats, they use sticks as tees for the little boys' wiffle balls, they use kitchen spoons as bats.

I love how in both homes we've lived in the backyard has become a baseball diamond.  I love how the neighbors know we are the ones with the bases and they play and play and play.

We may not have the nicest grass, but need a batting helmet?
Um, we have plenty of those.

I love how there is no tackling in baseball (as a mom of three boys, this is a big one).

I love watching my oldest teach my youngest how to swing the bat or throw a pitch.

After a tournament, before school, after school, in the summer or in the winter...any time, any season it's about baseball.

I love how our family can watch nine innings of any game (from little league to major league).

I love how they always bring their mitts to minor league games just in case a foul ball comes their way.

Baseball is my boys' life.  Their love may fade as they get older.  They might choose different sports, different interests.  But right now, I love the way they love baseball.   

This Dick's Sporting Goods commercial makes me tear up every time I watch it...they get it.