Nonnegotiable
Not open for discussion or modification.
On the first official Monday of football season I am working on the list of items that are not open for discussion. It is the list of things that MUST happen in order to make this season of life as successful as possible. See, in this line of work, as much as we wish we COULD control how well the line blocks, or how many times we successfully allow our QB to get the ball down the field…. we can’t exactly control those situations. (Don’t get technical with me. Trust me. Coach does NOT hear me when I yell, “RUN THE BALL!” from my stadium chair. Nor does he hear the parents yell, “Come on LINE! BLOCK!”)
However, there is a list of things we CAN control in this tiny house of ours, and I would like to encourage you to control them as well. This is our list of nonnegotiable items.
This prayer book. Start praying for your coach TODAY. See, Coach is a 10. He literally checks every single box. 15 years ago I just forgot to add the box , “Will never ever drive me crazy, or make me roll my eyes.” Since I did not include that box in my checklist, I can’t exactly hold it against him. So I use this little daily devotion that was written to remind ME that Coach is doing the work God prepared him to do. For some reason…. when I work on MY OWN heart, Coach tends to drive me crazy less frequently. Funny how that works. I highly suggest praying for your husband daily. In season, out of season, whatever season. Coach has to be the first prayer I mention daily because without that relationship being undefeated, we are in a losing season. Nothing else seems to work.
Chair Coffee Chats with Coach.
I am NOT a morning person, I just like to have everything done first thing in the morning. I am a self made morning person. Set the alarm for 30 minutes earlier, get up, and go sit in your chairs and watch the news together while you sip on coffee. The children are not up to ask a million questions. You can discuss your schedules, talk politics, make plans for the weekend… whatever. (Send each other extremely relatable reels…) Just sit and talk. Make it a priority. It is a nonnegotiable.
Workouts. For me.
I get it. Coach’s schedule is packed. However, my sanity is valuable. For me to have this…. I have to find the time to workout. This may mean that I have to go at 5:(05)am. If Coach has morning practice, then it may mean I have to go in the evening. Whatever. I once felt a huge feeling of guilt leaving the children home with him after his busy day, but then I was frazzled or short tempered, and I wasn’t the best I could be mentally. I know a workout is valuable for me to be Carley, so it is a nonnegotiable.
Plan Meals on the Weekends.
Dinners around here have to be cooked quickly. They need to be somewhat healthy. On the weekends I plan every meal, make the grocery list, and shop for that. It takes time from weekends that I would rather use at the pool, but it is worth it. Meal planning and preparing MUST happen. If I am being honest, I would LOVE to not take the children to the grocery store…. add that to the list of requests.
Nightly “10 Minute Cleaning Sessions”
Most things around here happen to keep my sanity in check, but spending 10 minutes each night cleaning up from the day keeps Coach’s sanity leveled. Children (and I) are quite messy. Coach likes a house of order and things just picked up and put away. Usually while I do bath/ book/ bed routines, Coach cleans the kitchen. (Mostly because I am not trusted to load HIS dishwasher. Another post for another day.) So to keep the house on the winning side, we put children to bed, then spend 10 minutes putting things away in each room. It works. It keeps us winning.
There are a few more rather large items that need to be on this list, but when I started writing them…. I decided they needed to have their own spot. So we are going to take a halftime break and return back later with more.
Thank you for supporting this little corner of the field!
