Football maniacs

Our house has turned into football zone lately! The boys, especially Brayden and Preston, can't get enough. They play before school, they play at school, they play on their way to the car after school and they play at home after school before it gets dark. On weekends they'd play all day if we'd let them. If it's cold outside or too wet or snowy, the football games come inside, where someone is almost always bound to get hurt or something.

 

 

The boys have also gotten into watching football with Chris on Sundays this year too. They each had a fantasy team this year and really enjoyed watching their players and rooting for certain teams. Brayden, Logan and Ashten stick with rooting for the teams that Chris does, but Preston, whether to be funny or to find his own identify, almost always roots for the opposing team. It drives Chris nuts, but it's actually pretty funny I think, especially when Preston's team wins and he gets to rub it in!

We told them they couldn't play on a team until 7th grade, but that doesn't stop them from playing. They even somehow get Ashten to play along sometimes, and she's gotten pretty good! Obviously she can't tackle the big boys, but she throws a mean "bullet" (or so I've heard)!

 

The advantages: kids who want to be active instead of sitting inside watching TV, boys who bond over their love of a sport when they maybe have nothing else in common right now, teamwork and finding a way to work out problems in order to keep playing, the noise and energy of 4 kids is outside for a time (sorry to our neighbors)

The downsides: grass and mud all over the floor when they come in from playing, stinky boys from rolling around in grass and running hard, fights over who tackled who too hard or whose rules they are playing by

 

They have especially enjoyed playing football because for Christmas they each got some football gloves and Preston got a new football. Chris even says he wants to get up and find his old kicking tee for them to use too!