Anita can’t wait for game days. She and her family suit up in their team gear (even the baby… even the dog!), prep special snacks, and set everything else aside to ride the roller-coaster of the game, cheering their team through to the finish. Win or lose, it’s a shared passion, family ritual, and fun time spent together.
Donna, on the other hand, dreads game days. She doesn’t give a hoot about football (or any other sport for that matter) and knows nothing about the game. But she does know that her husband will “disappear” for hours, glued to the screen watching the big games (there couldn’t be just one?) while she feels ignored and abandoned, responsible for accomplishing the day’s chores all by herself.
Wives, who do you relate to more: Anita or Donna? While there are lots of Anitas out there who love football and share the life of an impassioned spectator with their mates, many other women totally feel Donna’s pain. They resent those three (or ten) hours every Saturday (and Sunday… and Monday…) when their husband parks himself in front of the TV and checks out, leaving her to deal with the parenting and household tasks.
If you feel like you lose your husband to sports this time of year, it might help to know that the game has some legitimate benefits for your husband (and your relationship!). And that knowledge holds the key to a new perspective, a new attitude, and a new way to approach the situation.
Here are four insights that can help you better understand your husband and his love of sports:
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