Soccer Mom

You will notice the absence of names in this piece. That was done on purpose because soccer moms in general are, sadly, anonymous.

*

She rose just before dawn and started preparing breakfast for her husband, who would be leaving first. She could hear him stirring as he showered and shaved. A busy executive had to be on top of his game. He needed a good breakfast. He was still tying his tie when he sat down for the first meal of the day.

She always made sure that he had a good nourishing breakfast. Sometimes he might grumble about the things she had selected, but he knew that she had his best interests at heart. He finished the meal and went into the bathroom for final assembly. Teeth brushed and hair spiffy, he strode into the kitchen and kissed her goodbye.

She sat down and had a cup of coffee. Soon, she heard the alarms go off in her children's bedrooms. One by one she could hear both of them stirring upstairs. She prepared breakfast for them, waiting until the last minute so it would be hot and tasty. Down the stairs they plummeted. "Hi mom!" they greeted her.

She smiled and kissed each cheek. They sat down and like a swarm of locusts, soon devoured everything on the table. Busy children needed a good meal to start the day just as much as big people. As they ate, she prepared lunches for them.

They galloped back upstairs. She could hear them kidding each other and preparing for school. They thundered past her, each grabbing a lunch sack and headed out the door to the bus stop. She watched them anxiously until they got on the bus.

She headed back to the breakfast nook and cleaned the table. Then she washed the dishes. Finally she had a cup of coffee.

After relaxing with her Java, she went upstairs to repair the night's damage and gather the dirty clothes. She took the laundry basket into the laundry room and started the washer. Looking at her watch, she found she had enough time to dust the living room and vacuum the upstairs bedrooms.

As she watched her favorite soap opera, she polished the good silver because they were entertaining this coming weekend. The soap ended, the silver was polished.

She went outside to her flower garden and weeded it. Then she watered the vegetable garden. The doorbell rang. It was the plumber, here to repair her kitchen faucets. She washed the hallway walls while she waited for him to finish. She checked out his repair job, wrote him a check and went back to her wall washing.

She went upstairs and carefully cleaned and disinfected all three bathrooms, replacing toilet tissue and making sure everything was spotless. She didn't want the kids to catch any ugly little germs that she should have killed.

A scratching at the backdoor signaled her dog's insistence on entry so she let him in. He ran to his bed and plopped down to watch her.

She had forgotten to eat breakfast so she fixed herself an omelet for brunch. Just as she was finishing, the telephone rang. It was her sister.

"Hi sis! I really hate to bother you, but could you loan me twenty bucks? My meal ticket left me with no money today."

"Okay but you'll have to come and get it. I have to pick up hubby's dry cleaning before noon."

Twenty minutes later her sister appeared and gratefully took the twenty.

She sat on the sofa and rested for a few minutes. The dog wagged his way over to her and she scratched his ears and stroked his back. She prepared an after school snack for her kids, cookies, and rested a few more minutes.

She opened the garage door and got into her BMW. Off to the dry cleaners she went, picked up the cleaning and gassed up at the 76 station. Her watch told her that it was getting close to time to recover the kids.

She parked in the garage and took the dry cleaning upstairs to her bedroom, neatly hanging the clothes in the closet. She heard the front door open just as she was finishing.

Her daughter and son went directly to the kitchen and started munching on the warm cookies and milk.

"Okay you guys, get your homework done. Nancy, you have a piano lesson today. Jimmy, I'll take you to soccer practice right after we deliver Nancy."

"Okay mom." "Okay mom." And the kids were off to their bedrooms to study.

She cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and put the dishes in the dish washer. She mopped the floor while she was resting. Soon, both of her children appeared, correctly attired for their after school activities.

She loaded them in the car and dropped her daughter off at the piano teacher's house. She drove her son back to the school. The team was already assembling on the field.

She went to sit in the bleachers with the other soccer moms. They gabbed about their husbands and kids. They talked over some soap operas and gossiped a little. They all belonged to the same church which provided plenty of fodder for them to chew on. A few, like her, had husbands who made lots of money. Some were not so fortunate, but none of them whined about their station in life. They were happy.

Soccer practice wound down and they gathered their charges. She drove to the piano teacher's house and picked up her daughter.

When they got home she told her son, "Go take a shower, you smell like a goat."

"I know mom, I know," he said trudging off to the bathroom.

"You come with me," she said to her daughter, leading her to the kitchen.

"Today, I'm going to teach you how to make spaghetti," she told her.

"Okay mom."

"Why doesn't my brother have to learn to cook?"

"If he showed any interest, I would teach him but he hasn't so far. All young ladies need to know how to take care of their future families. The young men need to learn how to support the ladies and their future families. You'll be a mother one of these days and you'll have to know how to cook. Being a mom is a full time job and it's hard work."

"When are you going to teach me about this family stuff?"

"I'll tell you all about it this summer. Until then, you concentrate on learning to take care of your house and your family. The family stuff, that's the fun part, will come later."

*

Millions of women did not desert their families in favor of careers, but it should be obvious that the average soccer mom works harder than a career woman and for much less recognition. Her only pay is the wellbeing of her family and the satisfaction of doing a job that many are unwilling or incapable of doing. God bless all those soccer moms!!! They are the salvation of our country.