In the finest spirit of internet discussion boards, this is a regular user choosing to go anonymous for one particular topic, the reasons for which will become abundantly clear as it progresses. I don't doubt for a minute that a few more astute posters may identify me, but there are particular lurkers who I would prefer didn't, and as long as that doesn't happen, I'm happy out. So even if you know exactly who I am, I'd prefer if you kept schtum.
Anyway, the logic behind the poll question is this - probably not unlike several on this board, the amount of time I spend involved in the GAA is a constant source of arguments between myself and the good lady, and while I completely see her point, at the same time I feel like I've given up a lot of other stuff (essentially everything other than GAA and work!!) and there is simply nothing left to give at this stage.
The problem is that even though I'm an appallingly bad player, I do still enjoy playing the bit of junior b, I love settling in and watching a game on TV though that's a very rare pleasure these days, I'm on the club committee and I'm also involved with a couple of teams in a backroom capacity. Throw in a few county games on top of that and you have a pretty busy schedule. Overall you're looking at 20 hours a week during the summer, with a lot less during the winter obviously enough.
Being honest, I never planned on letting things get to this stage, but like a lot of others, I hate saying no to people and I do love being involved, even if it can be hard going at times. We have no kids at home so that's not an issue, but the fact that my work hours can be irregular while she's a nine to fiver is tricky too. The issue of a summer holiday is looming large now too. I simply don't want to go during the summer and would prefer to leave it to some other time, but she's insistent that she's sick of Winter/Spring holidays and wants to head away in July or August. Even if I do book something for then, she'll expect me not to think about matches at home - and frankly that's beyond my capability, though needless to say she doesn't see it that way. I see no way out of that situation at all.
The problem is that if you talk to friends, the advice tends to fall into two categories: (i) You're mad to be doing that much, you need to start saying no - however these are always the people that don't understand that once you've gotten involved with a team, scaling back is not really fair on everyone else involved, while the other category is (ii) grow a pair. Suffice it to say that I don't pay too much heed to this level of in-depth analysis either.
So how does everyone out there handle it? How much time do ye spend, and is it a source of rows? If not, is it because she's just as involved herself, either in the GAA or something else? Any light on how to get through this with a very busy summer looming would be well received.
Anyway, the logic behind the poll question is this - probably not unlike several on this board, the amount of time I spend involved in the GAA is a constant source of arguments between myself and the good lady, and while I completely see her point, at the same time I feel like I've given up a lot of other stuff (essentially everything other than GAA and work!!) and there is simply nothing left to give at this stage.
The problem is that even though I'm an appallingly bad player, I do still enjoy playing the bit of junior b, I love settling in and watching a game on TV though that's a very rare pleasure these days, I'm on the club committee and I'm also involved with a couple of teams in a backroom capacity. Throw in a few county games on top of that and you have a pretty busy schedule. Overall you're looking at 20 hours a week during the summer, with a lot less during the winter obviously enough.
Being honest, I never planned on letting things get to this stage, but like a lot of others, I hate saying no to people and I do love being involved, even if it can be hard going at times. We have no kids at home so that's not an issue, but the fact that my work hours can be irregular while she's a nine to fiver is tricky too. The issue of a summer holiday is looming large now too. I simply don't want to go during the summer and would prefer to leave it to some other time, but she's insistent that she's sick of Winter/Spring holidays and wants to head away in July or August. Even if I do book something for then, she'll expect me not to think about matches at home - and frankly that's beyond my capability, though needless to say she doesn't see it that way. I see no way out of that situation at all.
The problem is that if you talk to friends, the advice tends to fall into two categories: (i) You're mad to be doing that much, you need to start saying no - however these are always the people that don't understand that once you've gotten involved with a team, scaling back is not really fair on everyone else involved, while the other category is (ii) grow a pair. Suffice it to say that I don't pay too much heed to this level of in-depth analysis either.
So how does everyone out there handle it? How much time do ye spend, and is it a source of rows? If not, is it because she's just as involved herself, either in the GAA or something else? Any light on how to get through this with a very busy summer looming would be well received.