One of those life defining moments

Funny how momentous events can occur from a seemingly tiny decision. A decision taken without care or consideration which can effect the rest of your life.

We had one of these the other day. In the supermarket. The boys needed some new lunchboxes, so off we trotted. There they all were, sparkly and new. I told them they could choose whichever they wanted and wandered off to find nappies or some such thing. Either way I wasn't concentrating. They chose their lunchboxes, the ones shaped as football shirts. Adam chose a red one (Arsenal) and Luke a white one (Spurs).

Suddenly, in the midst of considering whether I should be buying size 4 or 4plus nappies, I realised that I had a full blown crisis on my hands. For the lunchbox they choose, resplendent with the team colours would be the lunchbox they took to school. And this lunchbox would become the team that they would support for the rest of their lives. And they were about to choose the wrong teams.

I come from a Blues family. Dad started supporting Chelsea some 60 years ago, aged 5. When we were growing up he took us to many matches. This was the mid 80s when Chelsea was not exactly the vibrant, cosmopolitan, sophisticated team it is now. This was the era of hooliganism and Chelsea was at the forefront. They had no cash and regularly got relegated to Division 2. They were not the team to support.

It didn't make any difference, we never got a choice in the matter. The whole family is Chelsea through and through (and we don't care what you think). But when it came to having my sons thinking they might buy a different team's kit, particularly one which they might then decide to go on and support, well that was never going to happen.

We are now proud owners of 2 Chelsea lunchboxes. May they have seen the light and understood the way of the world. They'll be Blues too. But it was a close one.