The World Junior Hockey Championship tournament has come to an All-Canadian-Picture-Perfect-Finish. Canada wins the gold medal in the game we call our own. How could it get sweeter than that? It's why parents of TimBit kids across Canada wake up early hours, take our kids to practice and spend countless dollars on fuel, equipment and family meals being served at the rink canteen.
As a mother of three boys, living in small town Saskatchewan, I really wouldn't want it any other way. What else would I do with my time in this kind of weather? I love to take my kids to practice or a game rather than fight with them to get off their video games. Throughout the last 15 years since I became involved in my kids hockey…win or lose, I have learned one thing for sure. Hockey is really just for the fun of it! I My kids have lost…my kids have won…my kid has been the star of the team. My kid has also been the player who never knew the score but really enjoyed the fries and burger at the canteen after.
Either way, in the end, it really doesn't matter. The game is about hard work, learning new skills, trying your best, working as a team and having some fun along the way. It seems to me, as I watch from the stands, that some spectators have forgotten about that. Last year, my son had one of those games where he scored more goals than he could count. That's when I heard parents yell "GET HIM" and "TAKE HIM". I couldn't believe a six-year-old boy, who weighs less than 40 lbs. soaking wet, could get a grown adult so angry. I mean, seriously, the only thing you need to 'GET' that boy…is a cheeseburger and fries after the game!
What on earth takes over parents that when we get into an arena we forget that very player out there is someone else's daughter or son? Would we really want someone taking that approach to our child? I have learned over the years that there is a time when your kid will shine…there are times when your kid will help the team shine…and there is a time that your kid will do neither. In the end, the only thing that will matter is that your child got some exercise and had a great time doing it!
Our job as parents is to teach our children to win well and lose well. So, let's put this into perspective. The odds of your little Johnny (or Molly) making it to the NHL are about the same as winning the lottery (and let's face it, I am no longer getting scratch tickets for the rest of my life, so my chances just got a whole lot worse). So for the 99% of the players on the ice, hockey will just end up being a childhood memory. Isn't it our jobs as parents to make sure it's a fond one?
