Memo from a football-season widow

After your baby is born, it is always a challenge to find ways to continue doing the things you did pre-baby.... going to the movies, shopping, finding time to yourself, etc. My hubby's biggest challenge is finding a way to watch football without being interrupted. Our first son, Ben, was born in July....right before football season. This first year was awesome. Jason would stay home, watch football all day, and snuggle with his baby boy. Once Ben was mobile and Ryan was born, it became a constant battle over the TV, who changes the diapers, and anything else that interrupted 'precious' football-watching time.

Now I know that I am NOT alone. Most of my friends are also 'football-season widows' - women who have no visible husband from Sunday morning through Monday night. After all week with the kids, all I want is a few moments to myself during the weekend and football season totally robs me of this personal time. It is BUNK!

So, I have found a few solutions, that I would like to share with all of you other 'football-season widows' out there.
1. Hire a cleaning lady. Now you may wonder what this has to do with football. Well, it is simple... the weekends were usually a time for me to clean my house. Now that I am in charge of the kids on the weekend, during football season, I don't have the time nor the desire to clean my house on the weekends. Now I don't have to and I don't feel a bit guilty about it.
2. If your kids nap, sneak out of the house during nap time. Your husband is still in the house so it is not like you are leaving your kids home completely alone.
3. Find a bunch of friends, with kids, who are also 'football-season widows.' On Sunday night, send all of the husbands to one house to watch football and have all of the moms and kids go to another house for dinner and hanging with the kids. As moms, we will be happy for the company, help with the kids, and good food. The kids will be happy to have some playmates and different toys to play with. The dads will be happy to have some uninterrupted time to watch football with some noisy guys. It is a WIN-WIN situation for everyone!

Lastly, as soon as football season is over, take a much-deserved moms' weekend out-of-town with your 'football-season widow' friends and have the dads stay home to take care of the kids!