For Mom, Home Field Advantage Adds Up

In case you haven’t heard, today kicks off the NFL season. Sweet! Some wives – and women in general – dread this time of year. I am not one of them. I have a fantasy football team, I participate in a “pick-a-winner” league (pick one winner every week, can’t pick the same team twice, if you lose, you’re out) and another pool where you pick every game, then rank them by your confidence in your pick (oh, all are for entertainment purposes only).

Photo JDanvers, Flickr Creative Commons

I might have a problem.

But I digress.

I am here to tell you that, if you are a football widow, don’t hate on the game, huddle up with your kids (football analogy #1) and turn it into a math lesson. True story – when my son Taylor was four and in pre-school, his class was doing a math exercise. His teacher said something along the lines of, “and how do we get to 12?”

It was quiet for a minute and Taylor piped up with, “Touchdown, extra point, field goal, safety.”

No, I am not kidding. That is how our boys learned math at home. If you ask them to tell you what 9x3 is, they will think about it for a minute, then give you the answer. If you ask them what 7x3 is, they will immediately shout 21! They have known multiples of 7 since they were three years old.

But it’s not just points scored that you have to work with. Here’s an example: It is 3rd down and 7 and the offense gets called for false start. How many yards does the team need for a 1st down now? A quick 7 plus a five-yard penalty gets you the answer – 12 yards. See, not only are they learning math, but their memory is tested because they have to remember how many yards are assessed for a false start penalty.

If you really want to challenge them, ask them about a holding call. They will have to go deep (football analogy #2) because if the defense is called for holding, it is a five-yard penalty; if the offense is called, it is ten yards unless they are in the end zone, and then it is an automatic safety, which is two points -- now you're getting into the really hard math!

You can also make discipline a little more fun by using football terms. My boys are guilty – probably at least five times a day – of delay of game (usually when getting ready for school or getting ready for bed), encroachment, unsportsmanlike conduct, horse-collaring, illegal hands to the face, roughing the passer (and kicker and snapper, etc.), illegal motion, blocking in the back, and – most definitely – personal foul. To make time-out really fun, get a yellow flag and throw it. They might take the news a little better.

So, happy football season to everyone and, in case you haven’t listened to the incessant press coverage over the last couple of days, the Broncos play tonight. Not only do they play, they play the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, the team that knocked the Broncos out of the play-offs last year. It’s kind of a big deal, so embrace the pig skin (football analogy #3), cheer and teach! Go Broncos!