Bridget's Pregnancy Blog

I’ve never been a huge football fan, but I grew up in a family full of them. Now, faced with a due date in early January, I’m faced with the inevitable dilemma of who, exactly, the baby will be rooting for come playoffs, championship games and Superbowl.

In case you’re wondering why this would be relevant to someone who will be somewhere between newborn and a few weeks old when these games are played, the answer comes down to “sports team baby apparel.”

Apparently, there’s a whole wide world of baby booties, bibs, onesies and caps with team logos of everyone from NFL teams to colleges. My family is from New Orleans, whose Saints are doing phenomenally well this year in the football arena, so I’m suspecting in January I’ll need to be dressing my newborn son in Saints apparel on game days, even if only to take pictures to send my dad.

Meanwhile, my cousin is a student at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, an alma mater of a few of my other cousins as well, so their team gear might also have to be in the baby wardrobe.

Unfortunately for me (or maybe hilariously for me), the arch-rivals of LSU are Tulane, a team my grandfather supported unerringly when he was alive. I’d feel wrong supporting LSU but not Tulane, so I’ll probably end up with some Tulane gear in the baby clothes, too.

He may have a slightly schizophrenic fashion sense, but I’ll feel like I’ve covered all his bases for when the older relatives in the family start trying to gain his support for one team or the other as he gets older. No matter who he chooses, he’ll be able to say “Look! I was a fan of them even at age 1 month!”

I suppose dressing my boy in any of the above will garner a few questions here in Beijing where I’m living, but maybe it will be an opportunity for some cultural exchange as I explain American football to my Chinese friends. I’m fairly certain that what he’s wearing won’t matter much to him in those first few months.

His version of a cheer will be something closer to spit-up and his awareness of clothing will probably amount to being too warm or too cold. But overall, the whole thing should be quite cute. And I think it will make me feel like he’s more connected to my hometown, something I’ve been trying to think of how to achieve while living so far away.

I guess I don’t have to worry about the start of baseball season a few months later, since New Orleans doesn’t have a baseball team. Although now that I think about it, I’m sure my friends from my eight year stint in Seattle will remind me that Seattle Mariners baseball baby gear is also available for overseas shipment.