Football Mom

I had to give up Oktober Fest last night because there are only so many hours in a day.  Right now I am spending 25 of those hours sleeping, eating, working and being mom. I am plain, ol’ mom, guitar mom, pingpong mom, swim mom, after-school-random-sports mom, Soccer Mom and now football mom.  Football mom is… OMG. Football. Mom.  I’m starting to feel that is worse than army wife.

Most Saturdays there is a game, that means clean pads, undergear, uniform, shower bag, other gear, snacks, more snacks, American money for food on base, Euro’s for food on the road, and more.  Cole does do a lot of it on his own but it still means:

“Mom!  Where is the stuff I clean pads with?”
“Mom! How do I get grass stains out of my pants?”
“Mom!” My helmet doesn’t fit in my bag.  Where is a bigger bag?”
“Mom! We are out of protein shakes!”
“Mom! Where is my shampoo?”
“Mom! I only have €5!”
“Mom! Have you seen my black jersey?  I can only find the white jersey.  I need the black jersey!”

Then he says: “What do you mean it is a lot of work for you?”

Now it also includes cooking for 10, and serving up a hot carb-loaded meal to the boys, the night before a big game. I participated in the first team dinner last night. I made my Dutch-style bacon mac & cheese, then ferried it piping hot to the field and carried, all 50 piping hot pounds of it, across the football field to serve the team.

Us moms, and a couple of awesome dads, are lined up on one side (dwarfed by our huge little giants, but we are there in the photo, can you see me poking out, about an inch of me?), serving up overflowing plates of food.  Not just once, but twice, even three times! Football players can eat.

For two hours it was all happy, warm fuzzies, camaraderie and bonding with both the boys and the other parents.  Yes, it is a lot of work, packed into days that are already more than full, but it is also fabulous to be part of a big family.  Living so far from home, finding family anywhere, is priceless.