Mother Malfuntion
Super Bowl Sunday has come and gone.
But many of the images remain.
I’m not talking about the confetti streaming down on the winning team, the commercials or the halftime performance.
I’m talking about this:
Our church hosted a “Middle School Bowl” on Sunday. Football, fun … it was great.
But look more carefully at this picture … you will see that one of these things is not like the other.
Number 14 on the end … she’s mine.
YEP…. all the “other” moms …. and by “other” I mean the “together, with it, knowing what they are doing” moms ironed their daughters numbers on the BACK of their jerseys.
I put Savannah’s on the FRONT.
Talk about a “wardrobe malfunction”!
It’s a “mother malfunction”, really.
Savannah asked me several times during the week to iron the numbers on her shirt and, she claims, she also said the words … “on the BACK”.
I didn’t hear that last part.
I also didn’t know if she was “14” or “41” and since I had waited until late Saturday night to iron it (yes, the last minute!). I couldn’t ask Savannah so I took a gamble and guessed “14”.
In retrospect, it’s funny that it was that particular part of the project I thought I might mess up.
I looked for the iron for awhile (because really, how am I supposed to remember where we keep the THAT?!?) … and once I found it I ironed the “14” …. right on the FRONT.
The number four didn’t peel off very well but I am resourceful and clever and I got a Sharpie pen and colored in the part that didn’t transfer. It was still a little lopsided … but it looked much better.
I hung it up for my girl to wake up and see her “red hot” jersey ready to go.
I was getting ready downstairs when I heard “MMMMOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM” yelled in such a way I knew it was not good. And then I heard … “THEY DON’T GO ON THE FRONT!!!!!” and I thought “OH NO …. NOT AGAIN”.
I mean really, how many things can a single person get wrong?!?
She told me to “Peel the numbers off and start over”.
Two problems with that.
1. The numbers came from Hobby Lobby and they aren’t open on Sundays.
2. Remember how I “resourcefully and cleverly” outlined the four in Sharpie?
The numbers were there to stay.
At this point Savannah was not going to church, not going to the Middle School Bowl, not speaking to me ever again …. you get the idea (ESPECIALLY if you have a middle school daughter!).
I told her that since she couldn’t play anyway (did I mention she broke two fingers?) …
Yep, they were slammed in a door while she was doing her Saturday job as scorekeeper for basketball. The doctor told her it was the players that were supposed to get hurt, NOT the scorekeepers!
So anyway … I tried to convince her that the captain needed to “stand out” .. “be a little different” and therefore have the numbers on the front.
She didn’t buy it.
AT ALL.
But when it came time to go, she came down the stairs with the “numbers on the front” shirt on and left without another complaint. She was even smiling at the game. :)
Thankfully her teammates are very sweet girls and I’m sure laughed along with Savannah about her mothers “ironing issues”.
One of my favorite parts of the whole story was the mom who commented … “you know, I almost offered to iron Savannah’s last week when they were painting the jerseys because … well, you know …”.
That still makes me laugh.
And, GET THIS ….
Their team, the Red Hots, ended up winning “best jerseys”.
Savannah, I imagine, stood in the back during the judging.