A letter to my roommate during the football season.

Illustration: DANG HONG QUAN

The Euro ball bounced around on the German pitches, but it still had the power to stir up emotions in many families.

A carefree letter to my husband!

9 AM on Sunday. I'm writing these lines to you while your snoring still echoes in my ears. I know you stayed up until 4 AM last night, exhausted from watching that Euro football match, and you were even more captivated by it than by me.

Honey, summer is always more stressful for us than any other season because we have to work overtime to prepare financially for our child's new school year, and we also have to cut back on rest time to take turns spending time with our child during the summer. Summer is the most tiring season for both of us. Yet this summer, with the Euro 2024 tournament approaching, after only nine days of you glued to the TV and phone, engrossed in football all night, my child and I have already experienced the heavy burden of "football sleep," a deeply exhausting experience for our whole family.

My colleagues' husbands have either pawned their cars, had their homes burglarized because they fell asleep after a football match, or had heated arguments with their wives—all because of football day and night. I know you're a true football fan, but what will happen to you and to us when the Euro tournament doesn't end until mid-July?

I don't want to see you rushing to work every day, exhausted, with dark circles under your eyes. I don't want my daughter and I to be alone at night while you're only interested in your football. I don't want to be annoyed by your nonsensical shouting on TV late at night. You think I'm talkative and demanding, but I don't want your health and our family's relationship to deteriorate when this tiring football season ends. I hope you understand my feelings.

To my stressed wife!

2 AM, before the Belgium - Romania match.

Perhaps this is the time of day when I'm most alert, and that's why I can read your thoughts. I know summer is a stressful time, not just for the two of us. Remember, on our wedding day, we vowed to be together forever, while the Euro tournament only happens once every four years? You're always right about everything, and I'm just obsessed with you and football.

He doesn't drink coffee, smoke, or drink alcohol because he wants to save money and spend more time with you and the kids. He also doesn't gamble or indulge in other frivolous activities outside the home. He likes watching football, but now you have to pay to watch it, so he doesn't watch it either; everything he saves is for our family. But the Euro is different; it happens every four years, and the TV stations offer free viewing, don't they?

However, you're still right. The past nine days, while you were enjoying the Euros to your heart's content, were also the time you felt incredibly tired from work, from looking after the kids, or from helping me with anything; you even seemed to be irritable with me. It's all because you were exhausted from thinking about football all day long.

He promised that as soon as the group stage was over, he would adjust his schedule. Watching football that causes family rifts, harms health, and, worse, leads to debt like many others, is an immeasurable danger that destroys all bonds.

He will watch football responsibly.

The match had begun, and he thanked his wife for the feelings he had unintentionally overlooked in the past few days. Just one more match. He promised to change!

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thu-gui-nguoi-cung-nha-mua-bong-lan-20240623091200827.htm