Diary of a Football Saturday

My football Saturdays have changed a little since just four years ago. I used to be the first one to the tailgate, with a huge stash of jello shots and a case of beer. I would have to set my alarm to make sure I was up on time.

Not anymore. I have two very sweet alarm clocks (they are cute even though they don’t come with snooze buttons) who wake me up plenty early on my days off. But once we’re up, it’s go-go-go to get out the door. We try to get to the tailgate by 10a for the 3.30p games, and by 8.30a for the noon games. Yes I am aware that it is early.

Here is our schedule:

• I get myself dressed (sometimes usually forgoing the shower, but I DO put on deodorant)
• Get the kids dressed in their appropriate Michigan gear. This sometimes always involves having a fight with Mallory about what she is going to wear. She usually always wants to wear her Michigan Cheerleader Dress but if it’s too cold out, I make her wear pants. A couple of games ago, when I made her wear pants, she saw a little girl at the stadium in the same Michigan Cheerleader Dress she has, and Mallory pointed out that THAT girl’s mommy let HER wear a Michigan Cheerleader Dress.
• Have more fights about little girls going potty and washing their hands and brushing their teeth. And “NO you cannot have Yucky Charms for breakfast – we are going to the TAILGATE and you will eat plenty of garbage there”.
• Pack up water and juicy boxes and diapers and backup diapers and two diaper bags (not sure which one I’ll actually want to take into the game) and mittens and hats and coats and snowsuits and baseball hats and sunscreen and diaper wipes and teething toys and baby goldfish and baby carriers and baby shoes and sometimes the exersaucer and sometimes the stroller and blankets and nursing covers and
• Assemble the dog’s “guard the house” treat – aka a Kong stuffed with “butter” (peanut butter).
• Get dog in car
• Get kids in car
• Stop at “drocery” store for something to bring to the tailgate
• Drop dog off at grandpa’s house
• Drive to the stadium, the whole time being so happy that I grew up in town and know the best (ie least traffic-y) route to the stadium. No I won’t tell you what it is.
• Listen to “Hail to the Victors” in the car over & over (Mallory’s request)
• As we get close to the stadium, Mallory yells “I SEE DA M! DO YOU SEE IT? I SEE THE TAILGATE!!!!!!!!!!!”
• Pull up to the parking attendants with my window rolled all the way up, and Mallory’s rolled all the way down. Giggle while the parking attendants give me a dirty look because it looks like I’m trying to pull into the lot without a parking pass. So I finally gesture to Mallory and they go to the backseat window and then they gush over how cute it is as she hands over the parking pass.
• My mom & dad arrived at the tailgate already, and they have the tent up and the tables up and most of the food spread out. I need to write up the Tent Saga for the blog, perhaps I’ll get my dad to do that.
• Pull into the lot and my mom moves the barricades for me to park in the fancy lot
• Park next to my folks.
• Feed Carson real quick so I can enjoy a beer or two before the game.
• An hour before kickoff, we start packing up the tailgate and head into the game. I make sure I have diapers and snacks for the baby, and off we go.
• I again start to giggle wondering how many people are going to tell me “You can’t bring that (diaper bag) into the stadium!” I giggle because I have a fancy pass for my diaper bag, courtesy of my husband so I’m allowed to bring the bag into the stadium. Out of respect for others less fortunate (who don’t have the fancy diaper bag pass), I usually take my small diaper bag in. I try to make sure I’m carrying the baby & the diaper bag because it cuts down on the confusion entering the gates if someone else has the baby.
• Get to our seats in time to watch the end of warm ups and see the band(s) play before the game.
• Mallory & Carson hang out the whole game and either watch the game or take naps. It really does take a cast of thousands to help me through the day – my mom is the biggest help of all, but sometimes Carson just gets passed around all over the place. The kids were both fantastic this whole season, it was awesome.
• Our routine is to go get kettle corn and a soda and do a bathroom run after the first quarter. Mallory needs to stand in line for the potty all by herself and she isn’t good at recognizing people’s personal space so she usually has her nose right up the person’s tush in front of her. When it’s finally our turn, she walks up and down the line of toilets, looking under them to find us an open one. She has to go first and then I get to go – she stands outside the stall the whole time and I tell her to stay right there so I can see her toes (this usually results in this dialogue: MCB: “DO YOU SEE MY FEET? ARE YOU GOING POTTY, MOMMY? I AM HOLDING THE DOOR FOR YOU. ARE YOU GOING POOPY? WE BOF WENT POOPY!”). Usually she opens the door while I’m still going to the bathroom, which causes one of two things to happen – either (a) someone thinks our stall is open and comes and opens the door all the way; or (b) all the ladies washing their hands get to see me squatting over the toilet. Pretty cool, eh?
• After we wash our hands and there is one sink that Mallory says is for little girls. It is actually the same height as all the other sinks but it is her designated sink. It will be interesting to see if she remembers that sink next year.
• Stay at the game until the end and then go back to the tailgate. At this point I’m usually carrying both kids – Mallory because she’s grumpy and only wants me to hold her, and Carson because he’s too heavy for my mom to carry all the way back to the tailgate. So I have one on my back and one on my front and I get lots of “Look at those kids! You are super-mom for bringing them to the game!”. Thank you :-)
• Mallory then eats more junk after the game. I think the food is her favorite part of the day!

I’m sure I’m missing some items but this about sums it up.

I now have 40 weeks to rest up before it starts all over again!