Super Bowl Sunday is usually flooded in alcohol

Are you enjoying life with two free hands instead of one wrapped around a drink? Congratulations! Alcohol-free is freedom!

When I was drinking I couldn’t imagine a Sober Super Bowl Sunday.

Drinking me would spend the game yelling at the TV, and the more I drank the louder I got. Then I’d end up embarrassed the next day, not remembering much of the game. It doesn’t matter if this is your first sober super bowl or your 10th, it’ll be a great game and much more memorable without the booze googles!

This year will be my FOURTH sober Super Bowl Sunday and I cannot wait. My beloved Chiefs have lost and so I have no skin in the game but this is why the game and the experience are going to be amazing for me anyway.

1. I love the athleticism.

These players are so incredible. Yes, they are good football players, but they are also just simply incredible athletes and when they run, or catch a football, or tackle, some of them look like poetry in motion.

I remember when I was an 8-year-old girl, I watched the Super Bowl by myself, at home, in my basement. Lynn Swann caught a pass high up in the air, and I remember thinking it was magical. His body was majestic. If you don’t believe me, check this out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHpYUS06G_I

When I watch the game on Sunday, I want to be able to connect to that sense of majesty and mastery that these players have. These are some amazing humans. Being bloated on beer seems almost insulting to the effort these humans put out on the field.

2. I will watch the game with my eldest son and Husband.

My eldest is 20. I feel incredibly fortunate that he is willing to hang out with his Mom. I’m not particularly cool or interesting in his world. I’m just his mom. But he knows he can trust me, and rely on me. He can show me his heart. And the Super Bowl gives me a chance to share an experience with him – authentically, as myself. I don’t have to worry about saying something stupid, ‘blowing it’ by blowing up or passing out or tripping into the chips.

I get to ‘be there

3. On Monday morning I will actually remember the game.

I will remember the plays that were incredible. I will remember the connection I made. And it will be real, authentic and fully me.

What it will not be is a drunk fest that will leave me feeling bad about myself, my body, or my spirit on Monday morning.

At 3+ years alcohol-free I know I do not need to drink to fit in, to be part of the crowd, or to have the ‘full experience’ of an event. As I have more and more ‘events’ AF, I realize that they are all much more enjoyable without the alcohol and the subsequent pain/anxiety/shame/fear that accompanies it.

A simple guide to SOBER Bowl Sunday

Like many other celebratory events, Super Bowl Sunday is usually flooded in alcohol. Sometimes it is no big deal and sometimes things take a left turn to poop town……. You know…. When the booze uncaps the testosterone in a couple of guests (Maybe you) and the fighting starts???? When the liquor turns up everyone’s speaking volume so you cannot hear the game??……Or the libation was such that it overcame the urge to keep that great greasy food in your stomach????……Oh yeah………Good times…

This year you have decided to weed out the fun from the funk and go alcohol-free…. So….Make sure you have a game plan. No need to get too complicated…. Keep it simple stupid (as my mom would say).

If you’re heading off to someone else’s house, pack your own ice chest. Make sure it is filled with cans of your favorite bubbly water. A key element to this playbook is the Koozie….You know? That insulated sleeve that you slide your beverage of choice in to keep it cool. Whether at your own home or at a friend’s this little sleeve is a game changer. It is a great defense against someone trying to read what is on the side of your bubbly (If they can read after a certain point in the game). Couple that Koozie with your desire to stay alcohol – free and it will be a winning play. Oh sure…. The occasional question will come up about what you’re drinking but once the action starts and the drunks start hooting up a storm you will be safe into the end zone. You can sit back and watch all the action. On the TV and in the room……………. P.S. You may have to be the responsible referee to sort out some drunken drama.

Sound Simple. IT IS!!!!……….. And as an added bonus to your Sober Bowl Sunday….No bleary, painful, regretful, nauseous Super Bowl Monday…….

Now go make this a winning year!!!

To fortify your defenses with a bit of humor give these posts a quick read. Top Ten Excuses not to Drink , make sure that you avoid these Top Ten Most Dangerous Alcoholic Drinks so that you do not have one of these tomorrow Top Ten Signs you might have a hangover and remember you do not have to drink! Top Ten Wonderful Things You’ll Miss This Weekend if You Don’t Drink.