MODERN FAMILY
AS a fully signed up MOB (Mother of Boys), I have to admit to sometimes struggling with the part of the contract that says you have to take over footballing duties when your husband has to work.
The clause had to be activated on Saturday night, which is how I found myself sitting on a cold, plastic chair, wrapped up in my warmest winter coat and boots, when I should have been cwtched up on the sofa in my comfies watching Giovanni glide Rose around the ballroom.
“Thou shalt pretend to understand the off-side rule, spend Saturday mornings on the side of a sodden football pitch, and not mind your lawn being churned up,” is up there in the list of requirements in a male-dominated house.
It is just above the commandment of “thou must lift stinky pants and socks off the floor every evening”, and under the rule of unpacking the weekly shop when they are out if you want to have enough food to last the week.
I’ve also had to develop new language skills over the years, even when I don’t always understand what I am saying.
“C’mon boys, get stuck in”, or “Yellow throw”, although I’ve not yet risked “Get goal side” as I haven’t the foggiest what that means. As for yelling “Great tackle”, I think that’s more suited to hen parties in St Mary Street.
It is great that they don’t always need to be shoved out of the door and it gets them away from their games consoles.
It’s just I wish either we lived a lot closer to the equator or they kicked a bag of wind around in the middle of the summer, when I wouldn’t be risking hypothermia at least once a week.
None of this previous experience stopped me feeling a little bit sad that I was watching Aaron score goals on the football pitch instead of Aljaž glide on the dance floor.
That was until the fans in the stadium started singing the national anthem in unison, and I saw the look on child junior’s face as his friends watched their team in wonder.
The sound from around the stadium as the crowd belted out Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau to mark Gareth Bale’s 100th cap will be one of those unforgettable moments from his childhood.
It got even better two minutes later when Wales scored their first of five goals, and the gratitude the team showed as they toured the pitch clapping their fans at the end of the game showed how much it meant to them too. The joy of being able to be together to share the same goal was apparent all around.
As we left the stadium, smiles on our faces, I decided it had been worth missing my favourite television show.
It also made me think that no matter how good you are, or how much you actually understand, sport has the ability to bring communities together by connecting people, and we appreciate it now more than ever.