Michael and I got married, Gabe started the 1st grade and loves it, Davis is a senior in high school and on track to graduate, we got another dog named BoBo (a 5 year old English Bulldog) with a phenomenal temperament who also (we found out after we adopted him) has epilepsy, and Elijah turned 4 and started hockey. Whew!
Elijah has hockey 3 times a week for the next 4 months. Then, after that he has hockey for the next bagillian years. Although the level of commitment required of a family really shouldn't surprised me at this point, as I grew up in a very committed hockey family (I spent a lot of time at the rink, let's put it that way - my brother was a player and my dad was always coaching), it still shocked me a bit. Now, everyone just knows that Hockey is an expensive sport, so I knew this. It's not the cost, it's everything else, holy cow! Along with the regular dues required to play, and the equipment needed, it is a requirement to participate/volunteer a certain number of hours. When I filled out the registration form for Elijah, they ask how you want to use your required hours, and there are check marks and a bunch of options. You are required to do a certain number of hours (not just a few either), or pay your way out of them. On top of that, you need to sell raffle tickets (or just purchase all of them up front). Wo Nelly! They are not messing around! So, next time you walk into a rink and see all the parents and families so involved in the program...remember, they rope you in early!
Now, I'm not complaining at all. I like the hockey life. And, everyone there has accepted us as a part of their community from the second we stepped in the door, and that has been so nice and really needed in our family. But I can see where our life is headed...we will be logging a lot of time in the ice rink!
So, on to Elijah, which is the reason we made this commitment in the first place. Not just because I grew up with hockey in my bones, not just because I like it, and not just because Michael LOVES it. The main reason is because Elijah cannot and will not sit still. He is a rough, tough, hard headed little boy who needs some sort of organized rough tough way to get his athletic aggression OUT. AKA, get him out of this house so he stops beating up his big brother. Also, he's bored. So, day 1 at hockey, he cannot even stand up on his skates on the ground (not even on the ice yet). Day 3, he spends the majority of the practice laying down on the ice and kicking. See, Elijah is very hard headed, as I mentioned, and will fight you tooth and nail until he sees the benefit in it. Until he is the best at something, he will lay on the ground and kick. Day 4, I called for reinforcements. He was the youngest child out there, and struggling. He needed 1-1 attention until he could at least stand and skate with the other kids. In comes my dad, the perfect solution. It didn't mean Elijah stopped kicking and screaming (my dad just stood there and waited like a patient grandpa). It did mean that on day 9 he could skate, unassisted, with a stick, and was ready to join the group. 
I learned something about my son through this. I watched him, practice after practice, skate, fall, get up, fall, get up, fall, kick and scream, get up, skate, fall, pound head on the ice, get up, skate, fall, get up again...day in and day out. He may be stubborn and hard headed, but maybe that is his best quality too. Maybe stubborn also means he won't give up...What looks like quitting from the bleachers to me, may be persistence down there on the ice (just with a little bit of personality, hence the tantrum). See, he never says he doesn't want to go, he never comes off the ice crying saying he wants to quit, and he always finishes the practice. When things are rough for me in my life, do I get up that many times? Do I return to the "ice" that many times for more, especially when I have no idea what I am working for, when I cannot see the benefit in front of me? Probably not. My kids always seem to teach me something...I guess this situation is no different. |
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