A football mum by numbers

First, there is the mud. I've never seen so much. On the pitch. In my car. On the carpet. This is a pic of the girls' football boots AFTER I cleaned them.

Second, there is Satrudays. They are no longer yours. Satrudays are spent driving from house to house picking up children to take to matches. And then to and from the matches (and sometimes back again if you forget a jacket at the football pitch.) Multiply car travel by the number of children particapting.

Third, Thursdays. Practice. In our case, it is 40 minutes away. Have you ever spent an hour in a car in at 6 pm on a November evening, drizzle on the windscreen, using an iPad as a light to try and read a book?

Fourth, the dedication. I found my daughter the morning before a match on the Internet researching the team she was about to face. I thought that was pretty thorough. (They won 4-0)

Fifth, the confidence. For my oldest, football has been the best extra ciricular activity she has done. Better than drama, French, art, dancing, Spanish, board games, piano, violin, swimming. She is a valuable part of The Team. The exercise turns her face red. She's learning about leadership.

You can read about how my girls got into football in my article on the Huffington Post UK: Football is cool, and it's for girls too!