A Glimpse Into The World of Football

With summer basketball finished, it's time to begin football. Both sons are playing this year, one for the Juniors and one for JV. I've never been a true blue football fan, but after watching the oldest play for the first time last fall, I've become more interested in it. We go to their practices, set up our chairs, then settle in to watch for two hours. Sometimes I take a book or my computer, but mostly I just watch. Last night was the first practice for this season, and both boys went to work like football was in their genes. Definitely a guy thing.

My husband is in heaven, having two boys playing football. Though he's not the biological father of the kids, he has always acted like he is. He's always treated the kids like he's the one who was there to change diapers, nurse them when they were sick, help them with homework, or whatever. Even when he talks about the kids, it's "my kids." He is the only father the kids have known for the last seven years, so all three of them look to him as "dad." Though they still call him by his first name, I've noticed when they refer to him to their friends, at times they just call him Dad. These days, Dad is loving every minute of watching two young boys play football.

While I'm not a huge football fan, I do like what I see it doing to my oldest son. He used to be incredibly timid, and I think a lot of this is my fault. He's always been so much bigger than his brother that I've constantly reinforced the idea of being gentle. Though they are only two years apart, physically they look five years apart. My oldest is only 12, but most people mistake him for being 16, 17. He's going into 7th grade, standing 5'8" and weighing 167 pounds. Most boys his age are several inches shorter and quite a few pounds lighter. All of his friends are shorter and lighter, and up until last fall, my son showed how his height and weight made him feel out of place. By the end of football season, after the coach encouraged him to use the advantage he owned exactly because of that height and weight, my son started walking a little straighter. He used to round his shoulders to appear shorter, but now he puts those shoulders back and actually loves to show just how tall he is. And at the last two practices, he's shown that he remembers what he learned last year and how he's capable of putting it into action. It's a lot of fun to see him so confident.

Even his brother is getting into the mix of football. He's a little hothead, so being able to hit people legitimately is much to his liking. The grin on his face after practice says so much more than words ever could, and listening to the two boys talk football during the ride home offers a little bit of insight into their relationship (which has always been a close one). I can see the two becoming even closer, sharing something that to a large degree excludes the rest of us. They have their own little world, and that's kind of cool to see.

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