Monday, September 26, 2016

RHOCF (The REAL Housewives Of College Football)

RHOCF (The REAL Housewives of College Football.) 

I am going to be 100% real.....being a College Football Coach's wife isn't all that glamorous. Not at all actually. I mean sure, getting free tickets to football games is great, but if you lose......you have a grumpy coach coming home with you after the game☹️πŸ‘ŽπŸΌ. Football wives completely understand why losses are so hard for them (they're just as tough on us too). We know the hours coaches put in day in and day out, because we are putting in the same hours off the field. While our husbands are away coming up with the next big game plan.....we are handling everything else on the home front. The season gets long after weeks of very little time together with our husbands on most days (if any at all). 



While the coaches at the Power 5 level make a great living, many college football coaches don't make the big bucks and a family needs a second source of income to get by.  I started a new job this week nannying for another family. During the day I watch a 3 year-old, a two year-old, and a 6 month old, in addition to my own 1 year old. It's a great way to make money while your children are young, balancing family with this football life. It has not been easy to have a career outside of the home being moved around as much as our football family has.......9 times in 14 years to be exact. Only a couple of our moves have been fully paid for......FYI.....it's not at all cheap moving from Virgina to Illinois. Balancing a job (whatever it is) and running a household almost entirely by yourself can be a real grind........but coaches' wives are still the glue that holds the family together. Sometimes it can be a lot of weight on ones shoulders. Nannying has allowed me to work while still being there to support my children. From help with homework, transportation to activities, to being a cheerleader for them in sports, working inside the home has offered my children stability despite the moving around and their Dad's time away due to football. 



There are other ways to make/save money as a coaches' wife. I have had a number of garage sales before we have moved. Sometimes I knew certain furniture wouldn't fit into our new place, but mostly.....who needs to keep your old school's gear when your loyalty is to a new team right?!?!  Moves have also ended up being our "vacations." We visited Mount Rushmore on our move to Montana two summers ago. When life hands a coach's wife lemons.....she makes lemonade.....we are just tough like that.



Thursday nights are often coaches' families favorite nights in the season. It's usually the only night of the week we can all eat dinner together as a family. After getting kids 3 kids off to school, watching four little ones all day, helping my kindergartner with some homework, cheering at my 8th grader's cross country meet, getting my 6th grader off to football practice, and managIng to find the time to cook.....I get to look forward to having an extra set of hands for that few hours after football practice. It's nice to get help reading/tucking kids into bed, cleaning up after dinner, and just a little bit of family time.


So after my husband was gone this past weekend recruiting (our bye-week.) I drove to another town with our kiddos to my son's football game and even managed to mow our lawn (while our baby napped.) To be 100% real.....I've probably used more tools in our house and mowed way more than my husband has since we moved to South Dakota....no...not a glamorous life. That's just what we coaches wives do in football....we keep our home together.....all the while our coaches try to figure out the next big play or player.πŸ› πŸˆπŸ’ͺ🏻

And that's a REAL housewife of College football (RHOCF).....It's not an easy life.....through the moves, time apart, and sometimes living paycheck to paycheck.......But I love my family and this football life........I can't resist a big guy with a whistle πŸ˜‰πŸˆπŸ‘πŸΌ.








Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Born Into Football

Yesterday we celebrated the youngest of my four boys turning one. My husband was even able to sneak home for an hour in between his meetings to see Maverick eat his cake......it's the football season right?!?!?!


Maverick Montana Eck was born during the season last year on 9/5/15. It was a Saturday after the Bobcat's first (Thursday night) home game, with a bye-week the following week (what a good football babyπŸ‘ΆπŸΌπŸ₯πŸˆπŸ‘πŸΌ).

I, unfortunately, had to have my first c-section. I remember just crying after I found out....I had already been pushing for over three hours. I cried more from thinking about the recovery than from the actual scar I would have. Those who are football wives know....there is no extra help from our husbands in the fall......"it's the season." You also can probably understand and relate to living far away from extended family, as we were at the time in Montana. Thankfully, my mom came out for the first few days after I came home from the hospital, but c-sections can take weeks to fully recover from.


My baby Maverick and I made it through it together....we had to.....it was "the season". I took my 10 year old son to football, helped him and the 12 year-old with homework (often while nursing), ran the 4 year-old to preschool, and tried my best to be a good mama with their everyday lifeπŸ‘ΆπŸΌπŸ‘¦πŸΌπŸ‘¦πŸ»πŸ‘¦πŸΌπŸƒπŸΌ.

I will say I also had the most amazing support from coaches wives and football friends. Bringing me dinner and checking in on us regularly to see how we were doing. Sometimes I truly wonder where I would I be without all of you ladies❤️πŸˆπŸ‘©πŸΌπŸ‘©πŸ»πŸ‘©πŸ½πŸ‘©πŸΎπŸ‘©πŸΏ.

Two weeks after He was born, Maverick, attended his first football game.....all geared up of course. What can I say......I start them young. All my boys were born into this game and I am going to make sure they love every single minute of itπŸˆπŸ˜πŸ‘πŸΌ.


My first born, Quentin, went to a bowl game as an infant, and just two seasons ago my oldest three boys traveled with the team when we went to the D2 national championship game. We were at Minnesota State University, Mankato (the Mavericks!), and my 5 year old still to this day talks about how much he loved Kansas CityπŸ’›πŸ‘¦πŸΌπŸ’œπŸˆ. We didn't bring home the trophy, but we found out we brought home something better.....we were pregnant with our MaverickπŸ’›πŸˆπŸ‘ΆπŸΌπŸ†πŸ’œ.

I know there are many out there that  think it's better to time up babies during the off season......trust me, I've heard your opinions. Life happens people, and what a blessing that is. We coaches' wives are tough women and can handle a baby during the season or under any kind of circumstances. Plus we can't all have our babies in July rightπŸ˜‰.

I just love my football baby. He's worth any scar and all the pain I dealt with then. For Maverick's second football season he will probably go to some close away games, and he will be at almost every home game (unless it's a night game....he's ornery if he doesn't get his sleep.....sorry....mama wants to watch the gameπŸ˜‰πŸ‘ΆπŸΌπŸ’™πŸ°πŸ’›πŸˆ.)

God bless all the wives this season having babies. They make the best snugglers on those game days. Wins are great, and losses are hard, but those football babies help remind us what is truly important. I can't imagine this football life without my kids cheering by my side......GO JACKSπŸ’›πŸ°πŸ’™πŸˆ!!!