Football rules

Nothing says fall like a pick-up game of football. Though, I should note, our version is vastly different from what you'd see in the street of most neighborhoods. That's because our game's coach/ref/person-who-thinks-he-can-make-and-change-rules... is four and a half years old.

During a trip to Gordy's for ice cream and playground fun earlier this week, AJ decided he absolutely had to bring a football with him.

Shortly after the "game" started between father and son (I was helping Sydney on the playground), AJ decided he needed to recruit me.

"Mommy," he whispered loudly, "go tackle Daddy."

And so I joined in for a few plays, which basically meant chasing AJ or Jeff for a few laps around the playground until AJ decided he'd run far enough to reach the goal line.

But then, Daddy committed the ultimate penalty. I missed the original play because I'd gone back to "spotting" the absolutely fearless (on playgrounds) Sydney. Suddenly I heard AJ call out in protest, "There's no tickling in football."

The gloves came off after that. AJ tried bringing me back into the game. I told him I needed to help Sydney. He responded, "I'm the coach. Go tackle Daddy or I'll fire you."

Little did he know that Daddy had recruited a new player, too.

I'll say this for Sydney: she has plenty of determination and competitive spirit. Now if we could just teach her to throw the ball in a direction other than straight up, to keep it from crashing right back down on her head.