Football Pre-Nup ?

I was listening to Mike & Diane this morning talking about some of the wacky things that are a part of many Hollywood couple pre-nup agreements. There was one that stated the woman could not weigh more than 120 pounds...Another contained language to make sure the hubby behaved well around his in-laws...Another (I think it was Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones) contained a clause for a cash settlement of over $1,000,000 in the event the hubby was unfaithful. Then I heard them mention one that stated the hubby could only watch ONE football game in any given weekend. Mike & Diane correctly commented that there's no way that rule could stick in MY house!

My wife Nicole and I started dating back in the Spring/Summer of 1997. As summer was drawing to a close I knew it was time to have "the talk". "The talk" is probably not what you're thinking it is. For me - "the talk" meant explaining to her that I would be largely unavailable for dinners, movies, dates, functions, events, or get-togethers of any kind for the next 20 Sundays or so. You see, for me, Sundays are for two things...church and football. Pretty much anything else can be done just about any other day of the week...but the NFL is Sundays (and Mondays...and the occassional Thursday or Saturday) ONLY! I was/am EXTRAORDINARILY lucky that that she never had a problem with my 12 hour block of football watching on Sundays. Yes...TWELVE hours. You've got the pre-game stuff, then there are games at 1pm, 4pm, and 8:30pm. I think Nicole could tell, even at that early stage in our relationship, that I was so far gone as an NFL junkie that there was no use even fighting it. I dare to say that "permission" to watch football on the weekends is right up there with looks, brains, and personality when it comes to what men are looking for in a bride. In reality, it may even be ahead of the latter two (kidding!).

I always go out of the way to keep my Sundays open from September through January. For example, we wanted to have our daughters baptized in January of last year after our normal church service. I carefully selected the one week in January when there was no NFL football being played (there's usually a week "off" before Super Bowl Sunday).

EVERY couple could use a little time apart each week. It's good for the relationship! It gives guys like me a chance to be "guys" and it gives women like my wife a chance to catch up on her soaps or watch Lifetime movies - which are VERY addicting, by the way...but that's a blog for another day. There are many things that couples enjoy doing together - and there are other things that only one of you enjoys doing. I say, why not allow time for those things?