With 4 boys active in sports there is one thing I get plenty of and that’s driving time. This morning Noah my sophomore, was cleared to wrestle again after breaking his left index finger. Which meant tonight he had a wrestling meet 1 hour from home. This afforded me something I don’t get much of, quiet time. As I rolled down the highway I blared music and talked to myself out loud. I can only imagine what people must have thought as they drove past me on the highway and watched me chatting away to no one. As I was in the process of solving world peace I realized I had forgotten my bleacher seat!!! For those of you sports weary parents that know the agony of weekend basketball and wrestling tournaments, swim meets, or all day dance and marching band competitions… I was a tad bit annoyed with myself to say the least. I spent the next part of the drive wondering what type of bleachers I was going to find at the gym? I’ve gotten to be a bit of a connoisseur of bleachers in the past 10 years. Now depending on the season you could have very different results when you arrive at your sporting destination. In summer and early fall during baseball and football season you could find yourself with the oh so comfy metal bleachers. These bad boys are blistering hot in the summer, like 80’s metal seat belt hot, or freezing your back assets off cold depending on the weather. As we turn to indoor winter sports you have one of two options, your either going to have the very luxurious blow molded contoured plastic seats which are almost as good as your personal bleacher seat, or the less desirable flat wooden board which is a new age medieval torture device made to twist your spine and numb your tailbone. I knew which one I was hoping for. Twenty minutes later I pulled into the parking lot, and did one last Hail Mary look in the back of the car hoping to find my bleacher seat or at the very least a blanket but no luck. I paid the entrance fee, took a deep breath, crossed my fingers and rounded the corner into the gym and BAM…

Wooden bench seating it is. Now as a brave member of the Bleacher Brigade I knew what I was about to endure. Like a true professional I did try to stretch before the marathon of torture. I’d like to say I persevered and barely felt a thing, but I’d be lying. By the time I made it out of the gym 2 hours later I had a fist sized knot in between my shoulders and a completely numb tailbone. There was nothing as glorious as standing up to finally leave and then riding home with my heated seat on. I’d like to think that I will not forget my chair in the future but lets be honest we all know that isn’t going to happen but when I got home I did make sure to put my bleacher seat AND a blanket in my car just in case…

In the mean time, the kids are alright, Adam and I are alright, and the dog doesn’t know anything about bleachers…