5:15 am
5:40 am
5:50 am
All too early, all too familiar. This time of year means alarm clocks set for a weekend morning.
Travesty.
Reality.
Football.
It’s not even the season in the technical sense. No games have been played. No cheers have been yelled. No rallies full of pep happened. But it is the season.
Camps.
Two-a-days.
Weights.
Those are weekday happenings that occur with a cadence and familiarity. The schedule we know. The schedule we fall back into a bit begrudgingly.
Pictures.
Meetings.
Planning.
The weekends disappear during the season, as they also do in this before-season starts time. School hasn’t started but football has. Readying locker rooms, preparing for practices and getting to know players are those behind-the-scenes activities that have to be taken care of before season begins.
Laundry.
Groceries.
Errands.
Life around the house still happens. Those of us not awakened by early morning tones (that no matter how pleasant they sound during the day are irrationally annoying in the pre-dawn darkness) can sleep in, but then have to tackle the day. Our own activities to get to with carpool schedules arranged. Birthday parties to buy gifts for and to attend.
Meal prep.
Cleaning.
Homework.
We try to get all the housework done before he arrives home so that we can be ready for when he’s ready. Ready for dinner out or lunch in. Ready for a swim or a nap. Ready for our weekend to start.
Film.
Scouting.
Plays.
Going in on Saturdays during pre-season is hard to process. Sometimes they just don’t make sense. We’ve done this for many years and we still struggle to adjust.
Noon
1:30 pm
3 pm
We never quite know when he will get home on a pre-season Saturday, but we do know our time home together is precious.
Saturdays in our house during season are not like other people’s Saturdays. It’s the Saturdays we know. It’s the Saturdays we have. It’s our Saturdays.
Our normal.
Us.
Home.