Football Season

I have always told my boys that I would never let them play football. I can't stand the thought of them getting seriously injured. I had Ky so scared that he didn't dare play football with his friends during recess, for fear that I would find out.

I thought about all the sports Ky could play instead of football. I thought maybe he could play hockey instead, but I talked to one of the coaches and he just laughed when I asked if it was less rough than football. I got the point. We tried gymnastics, he was good, but I always worried that he would hit his neck and be paralyzed for life. We tried baseball a couple of months ago and nothing breaks a mothers heart more, then to see her son strike out every single time he is up to bat. We tried Soccer when Ky was younger. He kept coming out and telling me that there was too much running.

I think every father dreams of having their son play football. Don has seen my football restriction and has been afraid that his sons would never play football. Then a couple of weeks ago I showed some sign of weakness and before I knew it, Ky was signed up for football. Now I am the one that has to take him to practices and sit for two hours while all these boys are taught how to be men or manly or something like that.

The sickest thing is that I figure Ky will try football, hate it and never want to play again.

So today they wore their equipment for the first time during practice and I wasn't surprised that he got hurt. He came out crying. He said that a boy rammed him in the chest with his helmet. He couldn't believe that someone would ram into him hard he thought it would just be a gentle little tap. In my mind I was thinking, "and?" I thought for sure he would tell me how much he hated football and that he was ready to quit. Instead, I heard him telling a friend that he will probably play next year.

So is it because I have made the sport so forbidden, or is there really a reason boys love football so much? This is only the first week. So we will see what Ky thinks about it after a few weeks. I still have hope that he will try football and hate it.