Baby Land

I cannot believe I didn't renew my Gamecock football season tickets... My senior year of college, I joined the Gamecock Club. I started buying two season tickets then, and we've had the same seats ever since. Every fall, we make the pilgrimmage to Columbia (the hottest city in the world) to see the Gamecocks play all their home games. The day is long - 3-4 hours round trip in the car, stopping for a meal, the 30+ minute hike to the stadium, tailgating with friends... oh, and did I forget to mention the actual 3-4 hour game? After the fried chicken and sun burns, we are beat and ready to hit the pillow. We are pretty useless the next day, too - still too tired to do anything productive (unless you call watching 10 more hours of NFL football productive!)...

I love going to the games. I love the atmosphere. I love seeing old friends. I love cheering at the top of my lungs. I love the game of football. But I love my baby girl much more, and that is where the decision rested.

Spending $800 for two season tickets this year just didn't make me jump for joy. That's 6-7 Saturdays that I wouldn't see my daughter much at all. We work, so our time with her on the weekends is sacred - score one for the baby. We're in a recession, so $800 bucks (plus food, plus gas) is a lot of cash - another one for baby. I can still keep my Gamecock Club points that I've accumulated over the years without purchasing the tickets - three points for baby. The poor Gamecocks never stood a chance with me against a far worthier opponent! The exercise continued and baby scored all the points in this shut-out. So I let the May 15 deadline to order tickets pass me by, order form still staring blankly at us from the kitchen table.

Someday we'll start going to the games again. I can't wait to take my daughter to her first Gamecock football game, all dressed in garnet and black. She'll love it and so will her parents! But now is not the right time for us to spend that much time and that much money on Gamecock football. This year, the three of us will cozy up in front of the big screen at home and watch the games on Pay-Per-View. I did that math, too, and we come out much cheaper and much happier because we are spending the day with our little girl. I am definitely the winner in this game!

Tell us about what you gave up (willingly or otherwise!) for your little bundles of joy...