By Kathleen Guthrie Woods
In my mind, there are two kinds of people: those who hate the sound of shoes squeaking on the basketball court (“It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard!”) and those who think it is one of the sweetest sounds on Earth. I am in the latter group. In fact, just thinking about it now has me rolling my eyes in ecstasy.
We have season tickets to watch a local college team, and as we head toward the playoffs, I’ve been thinking about what I’ve missed…and what I might have missed. On the one hand, I’m envious of the mom of one of our seniors. He has had a phenomenal record-breaking career, and she must be so proud. I used to think I’d be a mom like her, the one who would humbly accept praise from the other fans in between screaming her head off as she cheered her kid to victory. I would have been a great basketball mom.
But in reality, if I were a mom now, I’d be missing all this. I’d be the one at home breastfeeding or helping with homework or taking care of the kid with a cough while my husband went out and had all the fun. For the better part of a decade (depending on the number of kids I was mothering), I might catch highlights on the evening news, but most likely I’d fall into an exhausted sleep while listening to my husband deliver his play-by-play account. I would have missed the thrilling one-point wins, the bad calls, the game-winning steals, the Hail Mary shots. I would have missed the camaraderie, the strategy talks with the coach, the high-fives across the rows of devoted fans. I. Love. Basketball.
I know, I know, there are other rewards in being a mom. But in celebration of being childfree, I have to say I’d rather be sitting courtside on the home court than sidelined at home.
Kathleen Guthrie Woods is a Northern California–based freelance writer. She’s mostly at peace with being childfree.
Insert football for basketball and that could be my story. Not that I don’t love college basketball (GO UCONN!) but football is my first sports love. My husband and I have season tickets for UCONN football and rarely miss a home game. We’ve also travelled to every bowl game they’ve been in and two major away games – Notre Dame & Michigan. We’ve remarked in the past that if we had been lucky enough to have kids, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. So, it’s not complete consolation, but the fun we have following our UCONN Huskies helps some.
That goes for me too – but not for basketball or any particular sport, just for life in general. Going out and having fun is better than being side-lined at home anytime!