Team Banquet

With the season at an end, N’s team had their year-end banquet, and it was a blast. The kids had so much fun, of course they didn’t want to leave, and as usual, we were some of the last people to leave. I was beat, but happy that everyone had fun.

The complication to the matter was that we had many things going on, and R had to work and was going to be late. During the day, A had rehearsal for the school play, and N had his spring hockey practice... yes, it’s not over yet (whew!). There were many time conflicts, and we were not only going to have to juggle appointments, but we were going to be late. Bummer.

To get the day started off to a bang, I had a dentist appointment in the AM, for which I had to drag the kids along. I feel bad, but there was little choice in the matter, and it’s not the end of the world for them to sit the waiting room for half an hour. It teaches them to be patient and find ways to entertain themselves. Believe me, in a world filled with constant distraction via TV and computers, this is an invaluable lesson to help them retain sound mental health as they get older. We as a culture seem to have forgotten how to sit quietly in our own heads, and feel the need to be constantly entertained.

Anyway, I digress (what else is new?). When I came out of the appointment, I could see that at least N was fairly bored, but to his credit, he never once whined or complained. What a great kid. We jetted home, I made them lunch, squeezed in some school work, and then carted A off to her rehearsal over at the school. N’s hockey coincided with rehearsal, so right after we headed over to the ice rink and got him all geared up. They had a Dave Reece skating clinic and N got to take part, for which I’m glad. I’ve seen these classes and thought both A&N would benefit from a little instruction and challenge, especially for something they love to do. I think it encourages them to try new things on skates, and even get a little daring.

Now since we were across town for hockey, we were going to be late to get A, which in turn was going to make us late for the banquet. I arranged for A to go to a friend’s house after rehearsal, and believe me when I tell you that it was a challenge just getting over there. The mud was unbelievable, and at certain points I was convinced that we were going to get stuck. I didn’t think mud season would be so bad because we had so little snow, but no such luck.

We picked up A and then headed over to Pomfret for the soiree. Much thanks to T&JG for hosting, and to KM for arranging. We got there a little late and the kids were already running about, but what was really nice was when we arrived, a group of the boys ran over to the car and filled N in on what was going on, and within seconds he was off and running with them. I think some sort of boys vs. girls thing was going on, so A ran over to the girls and assumed her position in the ranks.

That left me to head in and hang out with the grown ups. Everyone was mingling in the kitchen, and food was aplenty. Not imbibing in alcohol, which was always my go-to mechanism at parties, I dove into the food. There was some killer stuff, and it was nice seeing all the parents outside the hockey rink, though large groups of people still give me a little social anxiety (thus the need for a social lubricant, i.e., cocktails).

The party was nice, very manageable, and speeches were made, appreciation was expressed, and overall I think it was a really nice time. R got there really late, but with plenty of time to say her hellos and hang with G&JG, whom we think are really cool folks. In fact, I think R and J might try to connect with their respective gigs.

It was getting late, and by the time most people had already left, we were still trying to pry our kids away. In retrospect, we should have left them there and picked them up a few days later... just kidding. For the record, they would have preferred this option.

All in all, it was a really nice party, and everyone had a great time. We hope to see everyone a lot over the summer, and hope it won’t take the beginning of the hockey season to reconnect. That would be a bummer.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to HerryLawford for the pic.