Missing the Madness

Six years ago I created a website and set up my first blog post titled “Stories of a Sideline Mom”.  My boys were much younger then. I was much younger then. I had just made a big career move going from SEC Football, where I had spent 10 years roaming the sidelines, to the NFL.  I was working the inaugural Thursday Night Football season and the regular national Sunday game. I was on the road from Tuesday to Sunday almost every week. It was a thrill. It was the NFL, the biggest stage in sports!   It was my lifelong dream job. It was totally overwhelming. The transition was brutal. At the time my sons were 8, 5 and 3. So that’s when I came up with “Stories of a Sideline Mom”. The motivation was partly therapeutic but the goal  was to share the challenges and rewards of being a working mom. I wanted to give others a peek into the frustrations and hilarity of traveling with a broadcast crew and the nuances of being on the sidelines for major sporting events. I wanted to talk about the emotions of being away from my regular life while letting people get to know me as a wife, a mother and a friend. But life got hectic and thus the blog took a backseat to..... life. With that being said, I’m bringing it back.  No better time than this one. When my life is completely the opposite of hectic. Like everyone out there, I've felt a wide range of emotions these last few weeks. An emptiness inside when my job was taken away after the tournament was cancelled, the uneasiness of not knowing what will happen next. The sadness I feel for my kids, the responsibility I have to make sure they are not scared. Which is so hard because I'm scared.  I know this is normal and I want you to know what you are feeling is normal too.  So with this new found time, and because I think writing and hearing from you will be a good distraction and very therapeutic, I am will be sharing my stories and thoughts on different topics. So consider this the return of “Stories of a Sideline Mom”. Please share your stories too and , with your permission, I will forward them along. Hope you enjoy!