7 Things to Thank Hockey For

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving and so I have a lovely brief rest from the hockey rink. No boy has ice time. And yesterday we only had one game.

One amazing, phenomenal game that blew me out of the water. Seriously, you see these kids practice and learn, but now and then it all seems to come together and they have a game so beautiful that it should be considered art.

How can you not be thankful for that?

So, on this beautiful Thanksgiving Monday, I am listing the things I’m thankful for that come from the rink.

1. Endless amounts of coffee. I love my caffeine.
2. The opportunity to sit for 50 minutes. My life is busy. Insane. And the bulk of arenas are big metal buildings. So when I go into the rink, the cell phone often doesn’t work. Every time I’m at the rink, I get to focus on my boys on the ice.
3. The chance to watch my boys do something that brings them so much joy. As a parent, there is nothing better.
4. The community of hockey parents. They commiserate, they laugh, they cheer. And believe me when I say that they cheer just as hard for my kid as they do their own. They also offer to car pool, watch, help with equipment. No small thing when facing The Schedule.
5. Sports have taught my boys about team work, about winning graciously, and losing with honour far better than I could teach them on my own. I, then, get the chance to talk to them about perseverance, humility, manners and grace.
6. Time management. Oh the time management skills. In order to handle a full work week, our business, my running and a minimum of 4 hours a week at the rink, I need to be on the ball. And I’m 90% there. The meal planning thing needs work.
7. The quiet that comes after a full day at the rink. There is something about a soundly sleeping boy that is so gratifying. And believe me, after a day of hockey related running around, my boys sleep like stones.

Thing is, I know that it’s insane. I know that the schedule doesn’t leave me a ton of time for socializing. But I also know that I don’t have endless amounts of weekends with my boys and one day they will have lives of their own. I hope that they remember that we were in the stands. That we did this for them so that they could do something they love.

As a parent, that’s more than enough thanks.