Good Morning, it’s GAME DAY!! What does that mean for the Coach’s wife? Way more than you think!! It is different for every Coach’s wife but for me and my crowd Game Day is fairly involved.
Here's a Day in the Life oF a Coach's Wife ON GAME DAY
We all wake up at the same time. Coach gets dressed while I dress our kids in their school spirit gear (like every other Coach’s wife does, it's just part of it). Luckily, Coach takes our oldest (kindergartener) to school with him so Coach gets peppered with all types of questions about that night’s game!
My youngest will stay home with me and remind me of all the things I need to pack her for the game that night. We all try to go about our normal day, but in the back of my mind, I am making a mental list of things for the big game.
Pre-Game Preparation
After lunch, my little and I will make 3-dozen chocolate chip cookies for the players to have after the game and a few extra to spoil our announcer and scoreboard workers. We pick up my oldest from school and come home for the real fun. I will pack up two game day bags.
Bag 1 is for snacks:
- 2 sandwiches,
- countless chicken nuggets
- chips
- candy
- popcorn
- gummies
- water bottles
- just about any other snack you can think of
Bag 2 consists of coloring books, crayons, playdough, tablets (at this point I whisper a little prayer that they are fully charged), and headphones. Depending on the time of year, whether we are watching football or baseball early in the year there may be a bag 3.
Bag 3 holds extra clothes and blankets. While I am doing the packing both my children are within touching distance of me with my oldest asking, “Is it time to go? We are going to be late!!” Finally, with everything loaded up we are on our way.
We Finally Arrive at the Field!
We have to get to the game at least 30 minutes early so we can “set up” our area. We take up a lot of space!
We get to the game and we are filled with anticipation. I will be the one pulling a wagon with all 3 bags and 3 ball chairs while my two overly excited kids are running ahead of me weaving in and out of the crowd until we get to “our spot."
Ball fields are like Church around here—everyone has their unmarked (but really, it's reserved) spot, and don’t be taking anyone’s spot now y'all!! (That may be a southern thing but it is serious down here). We set up and the kids start to fight about who is going to take the cookies to Daddy on the field for the players.
They both get to go but only one gets to carry the container. It’s a pretty high honor in our house! They will run and make the delivery all while sneaking a quick high five and hug from Daddy. At this point, the kids haven’t seen Daddy since the early morning, so that hug is important!
Finally, they will have the meeting at the plate where the littles will line the fence and wait, not-so-patiently, for the meeting to be over so they can scream ,“DADDY, HEY DADDYYYY!” (This ensures that I am never able to hide the fact we are the Coach’s family.) Then it’s all about that pre-game wave. You know, the quick, “Hey guys, you're embarrassing me but I love it,” kind of wave.
After the Game
The game starts and we make it through with no injury. Now is the part the kids have been waiting for: the post-game run-around-the-field moment.
The kids will go on the field and wait by the fence. As soon as the players break the huddle - there they go! Rushing to tackle Daddy for that, “Hey Guys!” hello and hug. Of course, I am excited about the post-game kiss, because who isn’t?
They will spend a minute and tell Daddy goodnight because they won’t see him again until the next morning. We haul our stuff and our wagon to the car. They will say they are going to wait up to see Daddy when he gets home but neither of them will make it. Both kids will fall asleep on the way home and I will carry them to bed dirty, judge me it's fine!
Daddy will come home a few hours later and check in on their dirty little faces and get that somber look of how he misses them, but he knows the work he is doing with the team is important and his kids understand. This is the life they have always known, and they love cheering Daddy on at games.
They love the excitement, the team, and the players. Of course, they each have their favorite player they will talk about the whole next day as they recap the game with Coach Daddy. They will ask when the next game is and anxiously await to do it all over again for a day in the life of a coaching family!