Football.......I hope I make it through this one!

So since it was mentioned in my last post, many of you know that Alex is playing 5th and 6th grade football in Trenton this season. This is something that we are all excited about but something that as a mom I am a little concerned about as well! Now as most of you already know, Alex is my ONLY son....he is just a little guy and he is by far my easiest child to tend to. Therefore, when these BIG boys come running after my son, I am wondering how Alex is going to feel about me standing up and screaming at the top of my lungs "You leave my baby alone and go pick on someone your own size"!! I am very concerned that I am going to be "that" parent that is watched like a hawk which no one wants to sit by and the sole reason that this year security guards are hired to stand on the sidelines and watch for parents who are ready to take down even the biggest of 5th grade boys! After thinking about this for over a week now, I have almost made peace with the fact that boys twice and even three times the size of my son will be doing their personal best to not only catch my son but thrust him to the ground in order to cause him to drop the football he is carrying! While this isn't really something I want to deal with, I am making headway in accepting the thought of it. We will see how it is in person when game day gets here!
Now let's talk about what I know about football. Well I know there is a ball, I know that there are lines on the field, and I know that you run as hard as you can once you catch the ball. I also know that when you go ten yards then you are back to a first down and you only get four tries to make it another ten yards. Pretty good right? Okay well now let's discuss what I don't know. These would things like how much is a touchdown worth, what it's called if you decide not to kick the ball after a touchdown is made but instead run it somewhere????? I also don't know how many points this fancy maneuver is worth but I am sure in time these lessons will come. My friends have found great fun in giving me sports terms that they know that I have NO clue about understanding and seeing what I can possibly come up with as an explanation for what they might mean. Two of these terms that come to mind for me are a jamboree and a chain gang.......which by the way I have now learned the definition of both and urge you to google it and see what you can find out. I can honestly say that I, along with Damon Neff plan to sign up to even be part of the "chain gang" and can't wait to be down there in the middle of the action past the security guards and only about ten yards away max from the first 5th grade giant that decides to make my baby his first target!