JEDDAH, 12 June 2006 — Summer is here, school is out and the perennial vacation season is beginning. But for 46-year-old housewife Samia Ahmad, the next few weeks will be less like a summer break and more like a bad dream.

“This month will be a nightmare to me,” said Samia Ahmad. “Instead of going out and enjoying the summer vacation, my husband and son have been glued to the TV screen since the first day of the World Cup.”

Indeed, soccer has always been considered mainly a male interest, and housewives in Saudi Arabia are finding themselves forced to confront the reality of men and boys hypnotized in front of television screens for the next 26 days.

Samia admits that she will be watching the World Cup when the Saudi national team takes to the pitch on Wednesday. Otherwise, she plans on being out of the house as much as possible during the month-long run of 64 matches. (As of this morning: Eight games down, 56 games to go.)

Arwa Abdurrazzaq, 33, said she’s seeing the World Cup as an opportunity for a little “me time.”

“I’ve decided to take advantage of my husband’s interest in watching football,” she said.

The deal is this: As long as her husband is watching football, Arwa has free reign to visit friends and go shopping. She says this is a particularly sweet bargain since traffic will be light during the matches.

An SMS message of unknown origins has been circulating around the Kingdom as a kind of plea. It says: “My dear wife, I’ve been loyal to you all the past years. Keep away from me these days and let me enjoy watching the World Cup without disturbance.” Joke or no joke, many husbands have been forwarding this SMS onward.

One husband took it up a notch and persuaded his wife and children to take a nice, month-long trip to visit relatives in Madinah.

“I told my wife not to call or disturb me until the World Cup is over unless it is an emergency case of illness or death,” said Abu Omar, 32. “At the same time, I don’t want to feel guilty for letting my wife get bored waiting impatiently for the World Cup to end.”

At least one housewife interviewed by Arab News has decided to play the good sport.

“It is selfish when some wives, who are not into soccer, ignore their husbands and try to stay away from them when watching the matches,” said Salma Abdullah, 27.

One month of intense soccer action every four years seems like an easy sacrifice, she says, especially considering the idea of reciprocation.

“A woman must respect and share her husband’s interest as long as he respect hers and stays with her when watching her favorite movies,” says Abdullah. “It is a matter of communication and understanding each other’s different interests.”

So if you find your husband lost in soccer action over the next few weeks, perhaps the best thing to do is, afterward, force him to sit and snuggle with his loving wife and a bowl of popcorn to watch “The Notebook” or some other “chick flick.”

After all, the World Cup arrives only once in every four years.