Not Just Another Pretty Face in the Stands

A fellow coaches wife and I always smile when we remember the year our team made a run at the state championship. With each passing game, we piled on one more sweater and moved 10 yards down the field because of the growing crowd (winning does that ). By the time, we played in the state final game, we were on the 5-yard line, 20 rows up and five sweaters deep. Last week, we were involved in one of those “end-of-season-both-teams-must-win” situations to make the play-offs, which meant a huge crowd. Normally, the huge crowd would have boosted my enthusiasm, but all I could think about was - that meant more trash. In an effort to teach my kids “how to work” I volunteered to clean the stadium (we did get paid). It was a humbling experience - that’s all I have to say. So, in an effort to educate crowds heading out tonight to support their teams, here are some hints to make the cleaning crew happy come Saturday morning. 1. Throw out your trash 2. If you can’t throw it out, leave it in the stands. Sliding it through the bleachers so you don’t have to see it anymore is death for cleaning crews. There are ants down there, licking their chops waiting for their next soggy bowl of nachos to make their way down and who are still there Saturday morning when someone reaches down to pick it up and throw it out! And, they hurt! There’s also a great number of metal bars that get in the way when you stand up and unwittingly smack your forehead against, and you subsequently blurt out something that you have to explain to your 10-year-old who you originally signed up to teach a lesson. 3. If you are trying to quit smoking, good for you! However, since you will be chewing nicotine gum or something similar, and I imagine, you will be chewing a great deal of it, find something else to do instead of wrapping it up in the 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch wrappers they come in and chunking them over the stands. 4. Sunflower seeds, peanuts — I love ‘em. They are an exception to rule no. 2. All kidding aside, as I looked at the field Saturday evening (I finished the last game by myself — basketball scrimmages and birthday parties) I took pride in my work. The long day gave me time to think, time to exercise (bending, bending and more bending) and it gave me time to think of the fresh start. A season completed, also means that its time to look forward to the next season. And that always brings hope. Losing is the pits. And putting away the equipment for the year always depresses the Coach. But he always looks forward to pulling it out again next year. It’s what keeps him going. Good luck in the play-offs, but remember not to mess with Texas (or a Texas Coaches wife)

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I iron everything. And, when I say everything, I mean everything: t-shirts, shorts and even tissue paper. So, when my husband dropped the iron during a rare moment of pressing clothes when I was busy elsewhere, the search was on for the perfect iron. Years ago, my mother introduced me to Rowenta and I have never looked back. While others ask for jewels for their birthday, I beg for household items. This year, my mother found an even better iron than my last one: the Rowenta Advancer. The iron feels light, unlike my last one and glides over the fabric. I am pleased with the amount of steam generated with the iron because I press a great deal of cotton. Available from Linens ‘n Things for $129.99. Worth every penny.

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I am very particular about my family’s laundry. I refuse to let anyone sort, wash, dry or iron our clothing. I even forbade my mother to handle the chore after four C-sections. I have a routine: seperate clothes, check for stains (dirt, pen marks, ketchup), treat, wash, check for stains again, dry for 10 minutes and then hang dry until ironing. You can slap me now.

When the children were young, they loved attending basketball games. Not because of the excitement of watching Daddy’s team but because they could eat nachos. The gooey canned cheese inevitably ended up on their fingers, hair, shirt, pants, and was one of the most difficult stains to remove. I finally resorted to a friend’s recommendation of treating them with the green Clorox Gel with bleach sink cleaner after all else failed: her reasoning - the shirt was already ruined so what else did I have left to lose? It worked most of the time if I threw it in the laundry quickly enough.

If only I had the “Tide to Go Instant Stain Remover” 12 years ago my life would have been so much easier. I picked up the pen yesterday at Bed, Bath & Beyond and stuck it in my purse. Little did I know I would use it five times before the day was over. Haircuts after school, a trip to the golf course to drop off sons no. 1 and 2, before racing to the tennis courts to watch a neighbor compete for a trip to the state tournament. A quick stop at Burger King before church and before I knew it, son no. 4 spilled ketchup on his shorts three times (I think he just liked using the pen), daughter no. 3 (one time - she needed an excuse to use it), and grease from the fries on my pants (one time-honest mistake). I took off the top to the Tide pen, wiped it across the two small grease stains on my tan cotton pants and was left with a little of the pen residue. After washing the pants, the stains were nearly gone - I should have performed additional pretreatment but the ketchup on my children’s clothes was gone. I was hooked. For $3.50, it was a good investment. The pen can be found at most grocery stores.

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