As mentioned, I was in Mississippi last Saturday, which means that Chris had the kids on his own.
The only reason this worked was that Alabama was playing an away game, so he only had to figure out how to properly watch the game on television while singlehandedly raising our offspring in a proper manner.
The only reason this was possible was because Alabama was sure to win. Had it been a potential loss which would have created in my husband a swelling of disquietude and agitation, we would have needed to find alternative arrangements.
The game was at 2:30, which was right during Noah’s naptime. So he decided to take the propaganda approach to parenthood: a week beforehand, he began to eagerly explain to Ali that they were to have a Daddy-Daughter Football Party.
Ali, whose language skills are not yet developed enough to translate his announcement as “the television will be on for three hours with no trace of Rapunzel or Tinkerbell,” was elated. For the week leading up to the party, she asked me at least five times a day how long it was until HER football party. She spent every quiet time creating her grocery list, decorations, and dreaming of the event to come.
She was thrilled when I left town, because it ushered in the era of The Social Event of The Century.
On Saturday morning, Chris took Noah, Ali, and The Grocery List to Publix. She was prepared to direct the menu creation.
Which, after a week of pondering, included graham crackers, yogurt raisins, chocolate chip cookies, and cheese puffs – something I didn’t even know that she knew existed.
(Chris said they got to the chips aisle, he spread his arms out wide, and said, “which ones do you want?” She put her finger to her chin, looked around, then pointed to the Orange Worms of Abomination. “Those.”)
Her chief design occupation in the week leading up to The Event had been cutting out bunting in the shape of footballs. Chris left her to string and hang the bunting while he put Noah down for his football-less nap.
Some looked more like footballs than others, partially due to the fact that she lost her regular scissors, and all she had to work with were wavy ones.
Her guest list was long, so they had to find seats in the lower decks, the grandstands,
and the overflow room.
Many guests had shakers, and the VIP fans were even issued tickets.
There was much confetti, much cheering, and probably a little boredom.
But bored or not, the Event Planner was satisfied with a party well had.
How fantastic is this!!! What an awesome Dad! I’m seriously envious of her party planning skills…theme, snacks, guests, decorations. She had it all. And the orange worms of abomination??? Never have I heard them so aptly described.
I think she might have a future in Event Planning. Good thing, since as mentioned before, hospitality is not my gift. I’ll transfer hosting holidays to her as soon as she has her own dorm room.
Ahhhh little Event Planner Ali I’m so impressed! :) A girl after my own heart!
Fabulous job! I might even have enjoyed a football party like that! ;)
Yes!! I used her love for Event Planning to teach Division today.
“If you have 21 pieces of candy, and Mommy, Noah, and Daddy are attending your party, how many do each of them get?”
It worked like magic.
Way to go, Chris! I’d call that a win-win situation!
My husband does this with my kids every weekend for Sunday football. Since we are CU fans, and they are horrible, he is training our children in the delights of professional football. My children love the junk food, unlike your daughter though they don’t decorate! I’m glad she enjoyed her football party!
I had to really put a lot of thought into CU. I finally decided on Colorado University.
Too sweet! My daughter knows that the TV is mine on the weekends in the fall for football season. She has adjusted well and is quite the Illinois and Michigan fan. She knows the only time we cheer against Michigan is if they are playing Illinois. lol And she knows we NEVER cheer for Ohio State. She is a huge Chicago Bears fan and has quite an obsession with Brian Urlacher! Each year we buy her a special ornament for the tree and last year she requested a Bears ornament. A girl who continues to steal my heart every day! lol Ava would be thrilled if we did a football party and I let her decorate the house. May have to do that sometime during the season.
Let me know if you do!
My husband would love it if I actually cared about football…
LOL While I can appreciate at her age this might be a selling point, but for me the words “Men in tights” always helped. :)
My son (at age five) is already quite into Alabama football. He watches every game with us, often with a house full of people, and even yells at the ref at the appropriate times if he sees a bad call!
We’ve taken him to one game per season from the time he was six months old, and he got very upset with me two years ago when we went down for the Penn State game. Tickets were expensive, so my husband went in with a friend and Brandon and I watched from the quad (something I thought would be a lot of fun). I thought he would love it but he was in tears when Daddy left to go into the stadium and we didn’t. We had to go back for another game where he watched “inside the stadium in my seat, not outside”.
That is about the cutest thing I have seen!!
I think that is one of the best ideas Chris has ever had, let her be the party planner, food choser, decorate and gets to see the game. I bet she had a great time. I want to know if she ate the “orange worms of abomination”? Those things taste like stirofoam. Yes a win-win situation. Also all dressed up pretty.
She did, and she enjoyed them. She later told me she’d had them once when she was at a lake house with Gramamma and Pop. So it’s their fault.
What an awesome dad to make it so fun and not just tell her to go play or sonething. So sweet! Love the decorations and the party dress!!!
This is SOOOOO cute! How creative to get her interested in the football game, I love it. I grew up on Dallas Cowboys football and will be a fan forever, whether they are winning or losing. This will be such a fun memory for your family. I’m going to remember this idea for my kids :)
Ali is a girl after my own heart! Forget the football…the party is what’s important!
That. Is. Awesome.
Since we live in the south and are expecting a fall baby, we have already started praying that our daughter will NOT be born on a Saturday during a football game.
Yes, that would be unfortunate. At least if you want your family to come SEE your baby…
She is so cute! I especially loved her guests…I am sure she gave some serious thought to the seating arrangements, too.
nice. he’s a smart daddy! and she’s a smart girl! i will have to figure out how to get evie to do productive things during quiet time ;)
Now that is great parenting! I could use some of those skills in the classroom. ;-)
So cute! The dolls lined up to watch the game crack me up! And the grocery list is hilarious!
I was also out of town, so Tim took a different but equally success approach: invite a friend with a “big girl.” The friend’s daughter is about 9 and she happily entertained our children in their bedrooms while the guys watched the game. I came home on Sunday to a VERY elaborate sheet fort in River’s room that he excitedly told me Aubrey built for them.
That’s not a bad idea! He’s a smart Daddy, too!
This is sheer genius. Love it!
Awesome, awesome, awesome! So glad his little plan worked! And I’m impressed that Chris took the Publix picture! Good thinkin’! (Actually, now that I think about it, he must have taken all the pictures, huh? duh!)
My husband has no problem telling the kids that when FOOTBALL IS ON NOTHING ELSE WILL BE ON. EVER. Fortunately, they were both born in Tuscaloosa, and I think they were born knowing that football is, well, pretty important. Last Saturday I couldn’t find my little guy’s Alabama shirt right away and he had a full-on three-year-old meltdown, sobbing, “But it’s football day!!”
Yup, he knows what it means to be married to a blogger. Photograph all the moments.
Ok, really good idea for your daughter and I loved the audience. However since I’m sitting her typing this in an ARKANSAS shirt I kinda resent the assumption that it was a sure win. (though even I figured we were due a rear kicking and quit watching the game at the third quarter in disgust)
Isn’t it funny how kids know what cheeze puffs are? I’ve never fed them to my young ‘uns either and they go bonkers when given some at a relatives or neighbors.
Sorry about that – no offense intended! Usually we’re pretty scared of Arkansas. Especially since most of the AL-AK games I’ve been to have ended up having painful overtimes that Arkansas wins!!
Sounds like she was a great party planner to me. Great job on decorations Ali!
My son can get excited about anything if you package it well and start telling him in advance t build anticipation.