What We Do Instead

Things to do instead of watching football*

 

1. Go for a run

2. Go to the park

3. Eat something special

4. Build forts

5. Watch the children wrestle

6. Go to Seattle for the aquarium, zoo, children’s museums, to visit friends, to walk around, etc.

7. Call friends in a panic because you are sick and tired and can’t manage the two children you have, Dear God, why did we decide to have another?!?!

 

*Soon to be titled: Things to do during tax season

 

I did not watch the Seahawks game on Sunday.  Sure, it was one of the biggest games in franchise history.  Shoot, I was even in the stands at the last NFC Championship game the Seahawks played in 2005.  But after the white-knuckled SuperBowl the Seahawks lost, I can’t enjoy football when it really counts anymore.  I get too stressed out.  I’d much rather watch early in the season when it doesn’t feel like it counts as much.  And I don’t really watch those, either, because the kids don’t watch football.

 

I went for a run on Friday

 

Tony, my dad, and my brother were there, at the game, screaming their fool heads off.  My dad and my brother are going to the SuperBowl in two weeks, to freeze their fool butts off.  We’ll watch that game, of course, though by February, I am really over football and the hours it takes my husband away from the rest of us every weekend.  It’s something he enjoys, and I don’t resent him the time to do something he loves, but I am tired.  And I know that once football season is over, there won’t be any reason for Tony to be absent for a goodly chunk of every Sunday.

 

We had a spontaneous FroYo date after the kids were almost really good while I shopped at Ross.  By “almost” I mean that the store wasn’t crowded and they didn’t run farther than two aisles away from me while shrieking madly the entire time.

 

It probably doesn’t help that we don’t have cable television, so he has to watch the games somewhere else – which means he’s not even in the same building as the rest of us.  When will we be able to order just what we want to watch on TV?  Like, I just want to order Seahawks games for the season.  It would be so convenient if Tony were watching the game downstairs.  The children could visit him, he could change a diaper during a commercial break… this “future” we’re living in is a disappointment on many levels.

 

Bathtime is an activity, one during which I can sit down.

 

The bummer about this time of year, of course, is that we transition from “no Tony Sundays” to “no Tony Saturdays” with the advent of tax season.  I am feeling marginally less sick, at least during most of the day (though the edges of the day are tough: mid-morning and post-dinner are my sick times now), so I’m getting the kids used to spending full days with only me.  We’ve gone to Jungle Playland and the park, to Baby Boot Camp and the Children’s Museum, and we’re sure to add the zoo and the aquarium when the weather improves and we feel like driving long distances for our entertainment.

 

So what if it’s 35 degrees out?  We’re going to the park, now put on your coat!

 

We’ll survive, we always do.  This won’t be my first pregnant tax season, but it will be the first time pregnant with two other children to care for.  I’m hoping the sickness abates soon and that Tony won’t have to start working late for awhile.  Maybe Saturdays can be enough for the time being.  In any case, I’ll find something to occupy us.