My handsome husband (HH) and I come from, what was formerly, a small town called Katy, Texas. Growing up here, there weren’t a lot of social options. We had a few fast food restaurants,a movie theater, and a skating rink. And the shopping was atrocious. When toilet paper was on sale, your mama threw you into the gas guzzling Oldsmobile and you headed into Houston on I-10 to the nearest Target that was 15 miles away. We teens wanted to leave this place and NEVER return. But the one thing this town lived for was Friday nights during football season. Ever seen the movie or series Friday Night Lights? Hello Katy, Texas. I can watch that show and literally identify every character with a real life person (uhm yeah, I would have been one of the nerds, #truth).
So at our high school, our mascot was the Tigers and we were, for lack of a better word, the hick school. Anyone remember “Porsches vs Pickups?” But regardless, we Tigers were proud. I mean, really REALLY proud. It has the strongest student and alumni fan base of any school I have seen. Some outsiders consider us a cult (so they say with a sidewise sneer). But I think we are a cult in the best way possible. We support our school and our teams regardless of the wins or losses. I don’t know many teams who can sell out their side of a 9,000 capacity stadium when the football game is 3 hours away. And the fact we have won the state championship in football 8 times might add a twinkle to our eye when we talk about our alma mater!
So I have mentioned before that kid #1 is a boy. Actually, he is a man (don’t cry mama) and will be graduating high school in June then going off to college. He is my favorite not so little guy (FNSLG), my schnookie schnookums, or just my big kid (pay attention because I use these interchangeably and there will be a quiz at the end). And let me tell you, he has an AMAZING sense of humor. I don’t know many kids who would rock a “I love Harry Styles” t-shirt through the grocery store when he lost a bet with me and his sister.
So, years ago, we acquired our season tickets when our big kid was in elementary school. And despite not being zoned to Katy High School, HH and his little buddy went to ALL of the football games. Home, away, playoffs, road trips to Beaumont, freezing outside in the drizzling rain at Rice Stadium…..they did it all. But slowly, in jr. high, FNSLG would start saying, “You know dad, I’m not going to be a Tiger so I don’t think I should keep going to the games.” Heart shattered. HH had lost his partner in crime. The one he would chow on stadium dogs with and double high five after each touchdown. But as my HH came to grips with his loss and FNSLG entered high school, a plan had started forming. You see, my kids’ high school plays Katy every year. Ah yes, house divided………
So starting freshman year, we have pranked our big kid on what we call the ‘big game day’ in our house.
In 9th grade, we made it a week long ‘house divided’ event. We hid Katy Tiger decals in his laptop, he had a “Katy Tigers are better than you” flyer in his Spanish workbook he opened in first period, I snuck on his phone and changed his ring tone to Eye of the Tiger, then finally, on Friday morning, he opened his locker and found the decorating my daughter and I had done the afternoon before. I knew EXACTLY when he went to his locker because I received a “You are absolutely unbelievable” text from him. Why thank you sweet son, I agree.
In 10th grade, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a yearly thing, so I really didn’t plan too much for it. At the last minute, I swapped out his workout clothes. FNSLG is a wrestler, and being the creature of habit that he is, he always brought an orange shirt and navy shorts to work out in. On that game day, he opened his bag and found a shirt that was a little redder….with Katy Tigers on it…….. Lame I know. #loser
I have to admit, I was very proud of his 11th grade year. Since I considered the year before to be kind of tame I needed to go bigger…….. and more visual. So I had 100 red and white helium balloons delivered to the high school where I promptly stuffed them into his vehicle. He was then left a note taped to his window with a balloon popper.
Needless to say, popping the balloons was too much trouble so he released them in his school’s parking lot.
Aaaahhhhh, his senior year. How do I top the visual of 100 balloons? We needed big! We needed loud! We needed it to be seen! What to do? What to do? BOOM. Inspiration struck. I wonder what my FNSLG’s face would look like when he walked out into the parking lot after school and found a tiger sitting on top of his red and white decorated car with Eye of the Tiger blasting for ALL to see.
Hhhmmm………
Yep, we went there.
Good times……Good times…….
So we will continue to cheer on our Tiger football team as they make another run for State. All the while, starting in November, cheering for our big kid on the wrestling mat. He is 200 lbs and a captain of his team, and let me tell you, when my schnookie schnookums hits the mat, it is GAME ON for HH and me. You can definitely find us in the stands (we might be a tad bit vocal) supporting him and all his amazingly awesome teammates…..
Even if it is against our beloved Tigers.
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