Da Bling is In

Whip out the sunglasses all. (So much bling I couldn't even photograph it without an overexposure!) The teenager just got his State Championship ring for the 2005 football season. Wow. How exciting. Not as exciting as the season though. OMG. It was exciting. And I don't even like football.

The teenager has been playing for his high school team for two years. Funny. We never watch football so I think it was pure peer pressure. Hey, I'll take that kind of peer pressure any day. We were very surprised at his choice as he had always been a baseball player and an avid fan of baseball. Regardless, he signed up; and there he was every day for two years. You know, they take their football very seriously down here in the South. He got three weeks off of practice a year; seriously, that's it--one week at Christmas, one in the summer and one at spring break. They worked every day before and after school. Thus, it was no surprise that they won the State championship. They deserved it. It definitely was not a given.

Unfortunately, the teenager has just recently quit. I say unfortunately only because I will miss the games. Nothing better than a local high school football game, especially when they're on a roll and your son is playing. With that being said, we will not miss working around the practice schedule--6 a.m. in the mornings and afternoons until 5:30-6:00. I will not miss having to stay home all summer except for the one week they're off. But, mostly I am happy he's not playing for his health.

He hurt his back late last year. When we took him in for an xray, it showed a slight case of spina bifida. His last vertebrae had not fully fused together. The doctor said they would just keep an eye on it and see if he continued to get injured. Well, of course, he stayed sore the entire time. At 16 with a bad back. Not good. The teenager refused to talk about it and refused to go back to the doctor. He would just keep the ibruprofen going almost every day--which worried me a lot. And so when one day, a couple of weeks ago, he announced to both the hub and I he had spoken with the coach and had given it up, I was truthfully a little relieved. Yes, disappointed that he was giving something up that he had been so involved with and seemed to bring him happiness and teach him discipline, but also relieved because of his back. He says his heart just wasn't in it anymore; and on this team, you have to give 110%. His coach respected his decision and appreciated his honesty. Of course, he doesn't want a kid there that doesn't want to be.

So it is with a little bittersweetness that he is sporting his new "bling." It proves that yes, he did work hard and deserves the recognition; but at the same time, there's a little ping in the tummy that tells me I will miss all the excitement the games brought to all of us. We are very proud of our teenager.