the hobby theory

james worked this morning but has just gone off the play his last hockey game of the season. the magpies have done very well this year with the first and second teams getting promotion. james has even had his name in the paper for the past few weeks due to some rediculous score-lines (18-0 last week!). a proud mother-in-law has been keeping copies for us to read (she used to cut them out and keep them but i think that level of pride will only be reserved for grace these days!).

and it was very noticable this week that hockey was drawing to an end because james started dissappering to the garage and returning with green boxes full of fishing gadgets; and rod shaped items were delivered in the post...

anyway, it made me think about a chap i used to work with in london who invented the hobby theory. according to ben 'men have hobbies and women have men'. i used to dispute this with him but these days it is very true although perhaps it should now be extended to 'men have hobbies and women have men and children' (although the latter two often merge into one).

the thing is, as much as i use it to earn brownie points, i don't really mind james going to play hockey every saturday and train one or two evenings a week because i know he's a better person for it. but what i don't understand is that before we had grace, every saturday whilst james played hockey i went to meet the girls for lunch or did a spot of shopping. so, why can't that be classed as a hobby and why can't i be allowed to continue that every week? - after all i can guarantee it would make me a much better person!

but bizarrely last week i even found myself planning when grace and i could go away for a few days so that james could go fishing. so am i now at the extreme end of the hobby theory in that not only is he my hobby but i'm attempting to project manage his hobby as well as him?!

i'm really not complaining because i actually think i'm lucky in the amount of things i get to do, with and without grace. and, don't tell him this, but i do think i have the best husband in the world. but i'd be interested to know at what point in history men* were awarded this god given right to need time out for sport!

* apologies to any men reading this who don't like sport