blogging, first world problems, GenX, mental health, midlife, momlife, parenting, youth sports

Heightened state of annoyance

Look. I have been a mom of preschoolers. I have been a mom of fidgety kids. I have been a mom in rink lobbies and dressing rooms for over a decade.

I. Get. It. 😶

Kids are kids. Rinks in Canada are full of kids. Hockey playing kids. Ringette kids. Teenagers who are kids helping coaches.

And then, there’s the younger siblings who are picking up older siblings from practice with their own hockey sticks or related gear. There’s kids everywhere, is what I’m saying.

The moms or dads sit and socialize or scroll their phones while waiting for the kids to finish practice, leaving the preschooler siblings to play with their hockey sticks at random. Shooting at anything that moves or is loose: roll of hockey tape, hockey glove, soda pop can, tennis balls…whatever.

I have been in this situation. Monitoring kids whacking stuff randomly. 😳

But. I am now a mom of tweens and teens. I have DONE MY TIME with fidgety youngsters thank you very much. I am no longer on constant high alert that my kids will inadvertently smack someone with their sticks while goofing around and not paying attention to their surroundings.

Last night, at the bubble rink, I had to move my sore, sorry ass (boot camp omg) no less than five times to avoid getting smacked by a stick.

First it was a goalie stick of a player who wasn’t exactly the most coordinated kid on the U12 team (she was waiting for the pressure doors to open, standing fidgeting a foot next to where I was sitting). Ask me how many times I put my hand up to protect myself…

I moved to give her space while she fidgeted with her gal pals.

Next, I planted my sore legs on a bench that was too low to sit down on gracefully (seriously, boot camp on Wednesday killed me) where a four year old was playing with a roll of tape. Smacking it repeatedly with his hockey stick. About two feet away from me.

His dad was useless. In actual fact, he tossed the roll of tape at the kid who lifted his stick to swing at it almost hitting another kid getting changed out of her gear nearby. I flinched. I too was within swinging/hitting distance. Also, preschoolers. They are not coordinated creatures. 😯

No point in saying something to someone who doesn’t have a brain in his head to process common sense… 😐 (I mean the dad, not the kid…)

I moved again. Just in time for the U10s, all sweaty and hyper, exiting the rink and swarm the lobby where I was sitting.

I got up to let them sit to take off their skates. Hobbled away as gracefully as I could muster. 🙄

So now there were at least 20 nine year olds in full hockey and ringette gear getting undressed in the lobby tripping over bags, gear, sticks, siblings and parents.

I moved again briefly contemplating if I should go sit in the car instead. But it was cold which meant I would have had to run the motor which meant wasting gas and that’s expensive and also polluting and…blah blah blah.

I went to stand against a wall for a while.

That time between my kid getting ready to get on the ice and the team just coming off the ice is a really high anxiety time for me. Especially in evenings when I prefer serenity and quiet, not noise and chaos.

Naturally the U10s were hyper and excited and in a social mood just coming off practice. They are in no hurry to get home to mom who will start talking about showers and bedtime…

Ugh.

My girl’s team, the U14s, are just as hyper getting ready to get on the ice for practice. One kid dropped her water bottle and spilled water on everything within spitting distance including my boots… (No harm done but sheesh, rinks are hazardous places!) 😛

Ugh again.

So I had to grin and bear it, the noise and potential injury to my already battered body. 😉

About 20 minutes into my kid’s practice the lobby was finally empty. The U10s had finally left. I chose a bench away from the door which let cold air in every time someone opened it (a local dad team was coming on next after my daughter’s practice) and pulled out my phone to check if anyone was pestering me in my apps.

Nope.

I felt sore and neglected. Boo.

Maybe I’ll pull up an ebook to read, I thought…

And then…my son started texting me about the Miss Vicki’s chips I bought at Costco that day (and hid).

I finally caved and made him promise not to eat the whole bag and to share with his dad.

I don’t have much faith about that but we’ll see. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. 😐

And so ended another exciting night at the rink. Aren’t you happy to read this drivel?

You’re welcome.

It’s Friday! How are things in your corner of the world?

26 thoughts on “Heightened state of annoyance”

  3. And this is why I am evil. I have no problem…none….explaining to the kid and his parent the ramifications of an errant bat swing, and asked if they were prepared for a quick trip to the ER room. Usually the parent then made the choice to move. Not me.

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  6. And this is why I now sit in the car while BG is in dance. I cannot tell you how many times I got slammed into, hit by some flying object, or kicked by some younger sibling goofing around in the lobby while the moms were off to the side gossiping and not paying attention to their kid.

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  8. I was usually hovering in and around the locker room since I was coaching and had reponsibilities in loco parentis.

    Now that I just get to be a Dad for a varsity player (I don’t even have to drive anymore which I sometimes miss if I’m being truthful,) it’s glorious. I stand up on the top bleacher either off to myself so nobody can hear me mumble and gripe or with the rest of the Dad’s in what I call “Vultures Row.”

    No more tightening skates or frantic equipment repair/replacement. No more trying to re-explain in fifteen seconds what we spent fifteen minutes in practice working on.

    I miss part of that. Turning young boys (and more than a few girls,) into hockey players and doing my part to prepare them for life.

    It’s definitely paid off. It didn’t always feel like it and it wasn’t always fun but it was worth it.

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      1. I’ve never been to one of those. Sounds like you were stuck. My son had a Friday night rink with stands but NO heat and no lobby. My girls would sit in the bathroom with the hand dryers running to keep warm. 😂

        Liked by 1 person

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