Taking It In…

Did I just take my very last bus trip with my ’05 – I feel like I may have. Since he is an ’05 he enters his Minor Midget season next year, which means very quickly he will begin driving, begin having girlfriends hanging around the rink, and furthermore not want dad and I cramping his style.

So, Tuesday night was special. His team (and parents) took a bus for their very late evening game in Kingston. I tried to soak it all in as I quickly realized while loading that this probably was our last bus trip together. I quickly remembered back to our very first one together back in Minor Peewee. I remembered having The Mighty Ducks playing (part 1 on the way down, and part 2 on the way back). I remembered not being able to see their heads over the seats, and the excitement and very innocent conversations with their “little boy voices”. I remember some of them not being able to even lift their own bags to put under the bus. And, I definitely remember my son waiting all week for this bus trip because it made him feel like he was in the NHL. I remembered a lot of tired little boys who fell asleep on the way back.

This trip was different, not in a bad way, just in a different way – they are teenagers now after all. The Mighty Ducks was replaced by their IPhones and their snap chat groups, and their pre-game tunes. Their heads are now well over the seats, they are now more visible than us Moms! These sweet little boy voices have been replaced by their now established deep toned voices, and the conversations are now about their HS course selections, upcoming math tests, the new girl they are interested in etc. They now toss their bags under the bus effortlessly and look incredibly dapper in their suits. The excitement of “just going on the bus” has now been replaced with, it doesn’t matter how we get there, there is work to be done, there are 2 points to pick up, lets go. Even though we arrived back into town after midnight there was no little heads sound asleep, instead we listened to their music playing, and the raucous of their big W and being one W away from OMHA semis.

Did I just take my last ride with my son and his team – I think so. And, while this brings a tear to my eye, I am extremely happy that it is not totally over for me yet – I still have my ’09 goalie girl and hopefully many more fun trips ahead!

To hockey parents everywhere, be sure to soak it all in. The early mornings, the late nights, the lugging of equipment, the long distance drives, the highs, the lows and everything in between.

Take.it.in…..all.of.it.

Before you know it, in the blink of an eye these days will be behind you and the memories will forever be in your heart!

 “We didn’t know we were making memories; we just knew we were having fun”