When I decided to have babies, I honestly think I would have reconsidered if someone had told me just how much of my leisure time would later be spent sitting on the sidelines of rugby, AFL, athletics, ballet, ju jitsu, fencing (I know, what the hell), netball and swimming.
So. Much. Time.
It’s not like, as parents, we have heaps of time to spare either. Between running a household, working (in whatever form that takes), ferrying children to and from school, helping with homework, trying to spend quality time with each child and our partners, and attempting to fit in a social life, there really isn’t much of anything left over.
And it’s lovely to see our little loves achieving and enjoying themselves, it really is. But sometimes it’s also boring. And sometimes we’re worn out from all the parenting and working and, yes, sometimes socialising on a Friday night.
And I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. Author Glennon Doyle recently shared a photo she took at her child’s soccer game and shared it to Facebook and Instagram with this hilarious caption:
“I give you: MY NEW HERO. This Soccer Mom, at my kid’s last game. Whilst the other parents stood loudly and earnestly and concernedly on the sidelines: this mother laid her body down on the ground, her head on her purse, and her blanket over her face – and napped.”
And oh my goodness, I am so inspired right now. Who knew you could do that? Now we all do thanks to this pioneering hero.
Who amongst us hasn’t turned up to an early game of something or other at ridiculous o’clock on a Saturday morning and just wished they could still be in bed? This mum shows you can do both!
But Glennon doesn’t want us to think this mum was completely blanking her child while they strived to do their best out on the pitch.
“Please understand that periodically – when the sideline yelled and woke her from her warrior sleep – she would raise that little thumb of hers and say: yay. And then she’d go back to sleep. I love her. She is a cultural icon of our time,” she wrote.
I have to admit, I love her too. And I’m sure, like the rest of us, this mum spends more than her fair share of time cheering her child on, helping with homework, cooking, cleaning, and generally loving the crap out of them. But don’t you wish sometimes – just sometimes – you could have a break like this?
I used to get excited if kids’ sports had a coffee cart present because I felt like I needed that kick-start on a Saturday, but now I think I’ll bypass the coffee and just schlep along with a blanket and a pillow, and settle in for the duration.
The image of this woman snoozing by a soccer field will be burned into my brain, and she shall by my inspiration. Go you, Soccer Mum. May we all take a leaf out of your book and find our own inner soccer mum this weekend.
