A new season

And just like that, the summer went by in the blink of an eye. September came; school started. Two weeks later, the rink opened. Once again we’re back in the school and hockey groove. It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but one of my last posts in the Spring talked about my love-hate relationship with hockey. It’s still going strong. I hate the fact that we spend so many hours at the rink. I love watching my kids play. I hate making lunch at breakfast, dinner at lunch, serving it up at 3:30, only to finally get home at 8:30 at night and hear, “I'm hungry. What can I have?” I love that my kids are great at something I can’t even do. I hate the smell of everything that comes out of their hockey bags. I love sitting in the warm waiting room with all of the other hockey parents. I hate having to bark at the kids 100 times to put down their hockey sticks and do their homework. I love letting the little ones run around and play freely with the other hockey siblings. I hate when my kids cry because I won’t buy them candy from the snack bar. I love cheering their team on. I hate feeling like I’m never home on nights or weekends. I love holding Theo up, face pressed against the plexi-glass, to watch the zamboni smooth out the ice. I hate trying to get everyone out the door and in the car on time for practice. I love shopping for hockey equipment with the boys. I hate that we get home so late, so often, that I don’t get to read bedtime stories to the kids. I love the camaraderie they have from playing and loving hockey. Need I say more?

Despite my ambiguity about our commitment, one thing is crystal clear. The boys love to play. Elliot has been playing goalie again for his team (he also plays out of goal maybe 50% of the time.) I have some fantastic footage of him playing both in and out of goal. Jack, who had a tough season last year moving up to the next age division, got out on the ice this year, and scored the first goal, in the first game of the season, for his team. What a motivator! Both of their teams won the title in the Mayor's Cup last weekend, for their respective age divisions. Jack's team was undefeated in the tournament. Elliot's team lost their first game to their rival, won all their subsequent games, then came back to beat the same team in a rematch in the finals. Both boys' teams finished their games tied, went into overtime, tied again, then had to go to penalty shots to decide the winner. Talk about exciting! Check them out:

Let's start with Elliot in goal...

Making a glove save.

After making a diving stop.

Some video shot from the finals at the Mayor's Cup last weekend. Elliot catches the puck in his glove, again!

And here is another video of Elliot, from a game two weeks ago, when he was awarded a penalty shot during a game.

And, now it's Jack's turn.

The end of the season

Tonight was our last hockey practice of the season. As I started the oh-so-familiar routine once again, I thought how glad I was that the season was over. Like every other Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, I rushed everyone home from school, hurried to get the older boys started on their homework, raced to get dinner on the table by 4:00, packed up an evening's worth of snacks, drinks and diapers, and somehow got 4 distracted boys out of the house and into the car. Through it all, I kept telling myself, "this is the last time you have to do this this year. Just be patient and breathe, and get through this evening." It worked. We made it into the car on time, sailed through the traffic on the expressway, and pulled into the rink 15 minutes before ice time.

By this point in the year, it seems like hockey season has been going on forever. In truth, it has only been 6 months. But the commitment is so extreme, and you spend so much time at the rink, that it weighs on you. Since September, we have spent 2-3 hours at the rink, 5 days a week. And as much as I dread the rushed afternoons and the homework cramming stress, making dinner at lunch each day, and dragging four boys through rush hour traffic to and from the rink, I love hockey.

As I rounded everyone up to come back home from the rink tonight, I felt like I was leaving college for the summer, or heading home from overnight camp. Saying "goodbye," and "we'll see you in September," seemed so strange, so wrong. For each child who makes the commitment to play on a hockey team, there are parents and siblings who (willingly or not!) make the same time commitment to make it possible. During the season, the rink is a huge part of our life together. Jack and Elliot play pick-up street hockey with the older kids while they take their turns on the ice. They do their homework in the referees locker room. Mattie and Theo play in the warm waiting room with the other younger siblings. The parents chat, watching the action on the ice, and more or less keeping an eye on the little ones. For me, it's a rare opportunity to be with so many other families with 3, 4 or more children. It's a place where kids are allowed to run around, and play largely unsupervised with each other, two things I'm finding increasingly rare these days. No one puts on airs or fancy clothes to sit around the frigid rink. We all huddle together in down coats and hooded sweatshirts and complain about how hard it is to fix dinner and get homework done on hockey nights. While no one would argue about the healthiness of it, we let our kids order candy, Powerade or frozen pizza from the snack bar, and watch the them share and enjoy it. There is no fear of dirty looks or judging stares from other parents. We're a team - kids and adults, on the ice and off. To me it's simple, and wonderful, and welcoming. And, just as I knew I would, I think I miss it already.

Maybe it's time to start looking for a summer hockey league, just to get us through to September...

Fall down. Get back up. Fall down. Get back up. Fall down. Get back up. 

Hockey teaches kids more than just how to skate.

Highs and Lows

Jack and Elliot participated in their Cub Scout Pack's annual Pinewood Derby Race this past weekend. I had my first experience with the whole Derby last year. If you've never participated in (or watched) one, suffice to say it's amazing. The kids work very hard (with a parent) to make their cars, and the race is fast, frenzied and fun! Quite unexpectedly, we turned out two champion race cars. Jack and Elliot both won first place for their age group. And, Jack took first place overall, and Elliot 4th. We didn't do anything remarkably different from last year, when Jack's car won its first race, then lost the next two, knocking it out of competition. Jack and Elliot were thrilled with their success, and we brought home our first (truly earned) Bruntrager family trophy.

As a parent, there's nothing greater than watching your child succeed and win, especially after hard work. But, unfortunately, things don't always go that way. As high as the Pinewood Derby win lifted Jack on Saturday, hockey try-outs knocked him down just as low last night. Jack has had a long and rewarding season this winter on an instructional team. This last week of ice time is devoted to "trying out" for next season. (There are no cuts; they place the kids on A, B, or C level teams, based on ability.) He's graduating from the instructional team, and joining the regular, age-divided "Squirt" team next year. Last night, Jack got out there on the ice, and was clearly the worst skater of the group. He lagged behind the other kids in the drills, and had trouble completing some of the skating challenges at all. He came off the ice sad, frustrated, and demoralized. Hockey is Jack's favorite thing. It means more to him than anything else right now. The look in his eyes after try-outs broke my heart.

I know that there are important lessons to be learned both from winning and losing. I know that both experiences build character, and help us grow stronger and wiser. But, as a mother, I still wish that I could protect Jack from the pain of loss. I look at Theo, so sweet, and happy, and perfect in his innocence. I can hold him and rock him, and kiss away his sadness and wounds. But, already Jack is moving beyond my grasp. I can still hold him, telling him everything will be alright. But, he will carry with him the memories and scars from his falls now. Sometimes I think about the future. Jack and I move together into the world of adolescence, experiencing it both as a mother and a child for the first time. The try-outs offered me a glimpse into what our future holds. I'm reminded yet again, that while some things about parenting get easier as your child grows, some aspects of it get much more difficult. I know the hurts will get deeper, and the falls will get harder. I'm not looking forward to them. I hope that Jack weathers them well, and that I will always find a way to love and uplift him. And I hope for many more wins in his life, along with the losses.

A Lesson Learned?

We had another trauma drama in our house last Friday night. While practicing inside with Ted and Jack, Elliot peeled some of the metallic tape (at right) off of his hockey stick. He crumpled up the pieces and threw them onto the floor. Theo crawled right over and ate one of them. Unfortunately, the tape was almost cellophane thin, and sticky, so it did not go down well. It managed to get lodged in the back of Theo's throat. He coughed, gagged, vomited and cried, but the tape would not come up or go down. After about 15 or 20 minutes, we decided to take him to the hospital. I knew that I would never make it driving to the hospital myself with Theo in the backseat in his carseat. I also knew that it would be impossible to mobilize four kids (one gagging and vomiting) to make a speedy exit. And, I was worried that the tape might somehow move and obstruct his airway. We called the pediatrician and 911, and an ambulance came. En route to the hospital, he managed to completely swallow the tape, and was instantly fine. They still wanted to check him at the hospital. He had a chest x-ray, and they x-rayed the rest of the tape (which was clear on x-ray, so most likely plastic.)

After a surprisingly quick and painless ER visit, I took Theo back home. His brothers, by this time, were in bed. Jack has always been worried about Theo putting things in his mouth, and was beside himself when Theo ate the tape. I knew I needed to reassure Jack that Theo was home and fine. When I took Theo into Jack's room to say good night, Jack asked me in all earnestness, "Do you think he learned his lesson?" I only wish I could have said yes, for all of our sakes.

Hat Trick, In Goal

Elliot finally got his chance to play goalie in their hockey game today. I knew from the moment he got all the pads on that it was not going to be as easy or fun as he had expected. It didn't help that the team's goalie equipment was at least two sizes too big for Elliot. But, he enjoyed it, despite the difficulty. In fact, he was not discouraged at all. He had a smile on his face throughout the entire game. He even asked if he could play goalie again. He let in about 6 goals, but also had that many saves. I think I may be investing in some goalie equipment soon. Jack played forward, scored the first goal of the game (about 30 seconds into it,) and then went on to score two more. This picture shows Jack taking a shot on Elliot during the pre-game warm up.

A roster a day...

Jack and Elliot are once again fully engrossed in hockey. The Minnehaha Mosquitoes play daily. This keeps Jack very busy, working on their team roster and setting up their lines. The backyard has been reconfigured to accommodate fantasy games, where they play for every member of their team. Our small patio is just the right size for a one-on-one game, complete with blue recycling bin goals. And homework always gets done faster when there is a saved game just waiting to be watched.

Last night the boys went to a Bruins game with Ted. It was the first Bruins' win in any of the games they've attended this season. It was an exciting night, but that wasn't all. As one of their season ticket perks, they were invited to take a shot on goal out on the ice, after the game was over. Then, today, they played in their own first official hockey game. The Dorchester Chiefs took on Weymouth's Mighty Mites. It was a close game. They were edged out 6-5, but, both Jack and Elliot scored a goal! Both boys were incredibly excited to be playing an actual hockey game. And even though their team didn't win, they walked off the ice smiling ear to ear, already making plans for next weekend!