Going to a hockey game...or not!

As you know, my husband has returned from a long boy's trip.  Today is the first game at home since they have returned, and I am feeling like I should probably take the kids.  It is not that I don't like going, but after 14 years, it is not the same as it once was.  In fact, I have been to two other games this whole season!  Wow, when I think about it, it doesn't really sound as though I am a supportive wife (unless you have read ALL of my other posts!) then you would know I am actually an extremely supportive hockey wife!

When I first started dating my husband, going to a game meant going to dinner after...maybe a few drinks, etc.  Who wouldn't want to pass that up?

Once we started moving, going to a game was a social outing.  When you don't know anyone, games are a way to feel like you are not so lonely!

When you add babies to the mix, it is no longer so easy to go to games, unless you want to throw out ANY ROUTINE you may have worked so hard on while the guys were out of town.  And don't forget all the crap you have to drag with you (diaper bag, stroller, car seat, blankets, ear plugs, etc.)  The question is at that point...Am I really even watching the game anymore?

I now have 2 children.  For me to go to a game...it is a 25 minute drive to the rink, (unless we take the train...but then I have to make sure I am on time to catch the train...which is way too much pressure!)  We fight for parking, and then I drag walk my kids to the front entrance.  We have to get our tickets at will-call, find the elevators and go to the suite.  The whole time my kids are asking for cotton-candy*, hotdogs, pom-poms, etc.  We settle in the suite...my daughter has to go to the bathroom, then my son needs to go.  Upon our return, they say they are hungry (as they watch the other kids eat their snacks their smart moms had packed for them)...Since I forgot to do this, I am guilted into buying $6.00 hotdogs!

My daughter goes into the empty suite next to ours and watches TV...she is none too excited to be at the game.  My son loves the game, almost as much as he loves jumping off the couch and onto the coffee table in the suite.  I give both my kids the diet cokes they whine ask for...and I run around trying to keep them from spilling.

After the game, we work our way through the crowds to the coach's office entrance.  I stand there and send a text to my husband...."We are here".  Fifteen minutes and one crying child later, he opens the door and lets my son in.  As girls, my daughter and I are not able to be inside the locker room.  I take my daughter to walk around.  Finally, our boys come out of the locker room, and we walk as a family towards the parking lot.  If I have taken the train, we all drive home together.  Most of the time, we get in separate cars and drive the 25 minutes home.  Kids are crabby, hungry, and wound up on Diet coke....I am tired and worn out, and I don't think I watched more than 10 minutes of a 60 minute game!

The other option is to kiss my husband, tell him to have a great game, and listen to the game online....thank God for today's technology!

But today, I will make an exception from the rules...I WILL pack snacks, I WILL catch the train, and I WILL take my kids to the hockey game, where they will sit like angels and watch the game!  A hockey wife can dream, right?  

**  We have a rule, my kids get cotton candy at the first and the last hockey game of the season.  This way, they know they are not going to get it when they ask.  That has saved a lot of tears!!


**UPDATE:  The game is in 1 hour, and we are not going.  I couldn't find the energy to get the kids ready and go.  My husband understands.  (Right honey?) 

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