With the Super Bowl just around the corner and the college bowl season a recent memory, something occurred to me, this year I may have watched the equivalent of 8 quarters of football. In the same span of the football season I have watched a thousand hours of Disney Princesses. Tangled is by far my favorite movie. No decision on my favorite princess. I’m leaning towards Cinderella. It has to be one of the old school princesses because at least they look normal, not like the new ones with eyes the size of baseballs.
Saturday mornings are no longer reserved for pregame with Lee and Lou, it’s Cookie Jar TV for me. As a result I now have to sing the Pajanimals song to put myself to sleep. My DVR has changed so much that it now wants to auto save every Bubble Guppies episode ever made. I have more Disney Junior shows on my DVR than Tony Romo has interceptions (based on the grumblings of my friends who are Cowboys fans, that’s a lot).
I may not be the painted bare chest freezing weather football guy, but I do enjoy the game and sports in general. If golf didn’t have four majors a year my sports watching life would be as exciting as a priest taking a nun to the senior prom, which wasn’t too much different than mine. I’m really kidding I had fun, just not as much as an eighteen year old boy dreams of. I digress.
I know my football and sports watching days aren’t gone forever. For the next few years though I’m hoping Texas A&M has a lot of night games because with two small daughters in the house my future Saturdays and Sundays are looking awfully pink. In my world the epic ballet that is football may not grace the black box on the wall as much anymore and the sounds of squeaking shoes on the hardwood have been replaced with the sounds of my young girls performing the Nutcracker and other crazy dances. I’m really good with that change. That’s what parents do, we give. We give up some of our wants because deep down we truly want our kids more.
A quick glance at ESPN on the phone keeps me up to date on the sports scene when I run into friends with no kids or sports watching son. Maybe someday my girls will want to watch Tiger sink the winning putt (I’m hoping that happens again), but for now I am okay hearing “not that daddy, I want Mickey.” I’m trading a little happiness for a lot of Joy.
Joseph Cortez 
Seriously — what IS the deal with the new princesses? Plastic Surgery or genetic engineering? As the mother of boys, we don’t watch princesses. We watch Power Rangers & Ninja Turtles. I give up my HGTV so they can watch the highly stylized good v. evil. And when you think about it, HGTV is nothing more than watching paint dry.
While a lot of men would demand that you turn in your Man Card, the reality is that you upgraded to the Platinum Man Card. Keep it up.
Love how you realize those precious moments will pass so fast! There will be plenty of time for those football games in the blink of an eye. You are being the daddy your little princess needs. That’s a perfect day!