Everyone is sleeping and I actually have a few minutes to myself. I have a hot cup of tea and the computer and no children of husband around to distract me. What a god time to catch up on the blogging.
Big Boy has started football. I have a love / hate relationship with kids' sports in general, football in particular. They take up a lot of time and really tie you down.
The hate part: Sitting in the blazing heat for two hours watching practice; trying to figure out how to work dinner around the practice schedule; not being free to travel whenever we want; the mosquitoes; the driving; the helping him put on the uniform and gear; the helping him take off the uniform and gear; the whining (his, not mine); the argument about why he has to go to practice... I could probably go on.
The love part: Big Boy has gotten to be way to big of a boy. Nothing has seemed to be effective to motivate him to lose weight, or at least stop gaining weight. And before anyone says it is genetic and he gets that from his big fat parents... no, my husband and I were thin as kids. My husband was gawd awful skinny, actually (I didn't know him but have seen pictures). While I was never super skinny, I had a very healthy weight until my thirties.
I don't want my kids to be teased for being the "fat kid" but more important, I don't want him to develop diabetes, heart failure or anything else which increases the chance that I will outlive him.
No matter what tactics we have tried we have not been able to overcome his weigh issues. He is too inactive and loves his food. I have recently become concerned that his love of food is becoming and obsession.
Football has been a Godsend. He has wanted to play for years but has never been allowed to due to the fact that he is oversized. The league is what they call a "pound league" which means that you have to be in a certain age/ weight range. They will only allow you to "play up" two years. So, at age 8, he could play on the 10 year old team but could not be above the weight range for that team.
He is eligible to play this year because he is now old enough to play on the unlimited weight teams. He is on the middle school team, the 11U (U stands for unlimited).
He is now getting exercise, the is taking to heart talks from his coaches and parents about nutrition and health. He dreams of one day being a quarterback but realized that he will spend his career on the line due to his size. He understands that he has to lose weight and is working towards it. Now, old habits are hard to break and he still is a hungry boy who loves his food but he is doing better about portion control and asking about which foods are better for him.
Also on the love part: the pride in seeing my child playing a sport - we are not yet at the point where I can say he is excelling at the sport but it is his first year and the other kids have been playing for a very long time. I am proud for what he is accomplishing and for how hard he is trying.
So, for all the reasons I don't like football, I will do anything to save his life. If dragging my sorry behind to practice three to four days a week will do that, I am all in.
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