Neurotic Indecision

As usual, I can’t take part in something without making a neurotic mess of things. Then again, you do what you have to do to get what you want, right?

Even though hockey season is virtually over, we still have spring hockey, which sort of doesn’t count. There’s very little structure to it, but just enough to get a good hockey feel, and best of all, I usually don’t have to coach. I’ll help out, but it’s pretty low key, and the kids love it. It runs a little counter to what the hardcore hockey people desire, because there is no coaching or practice. They don’t even keep score, it’s really about fun. The really hardcore hockey folks want tournaments and select teams, anything that enriches their kids hockey life and moves them one step closer to a hockey scholarship to an Ivy League college. 

I confess that I am vulnerable to this way of thinking. It’s hard not to when you’re surrounded by it, but I’ve been able to keep a level head and not push any agendas. Plus, I have R there to remind me of what a bunch of insanity it all is.

With that in mind, we’ll stick with fun and low key. However, I still manage to make a neurotic mess of things. Our good friend is doing spring hockey and he mentioned he was coaching. A&N are big fans, so I spoke with the people in charge and arranged for them to be on his team. Boy did I jump the gun. 

After speaking with said friend, I found out that he was trying to arrange for a bunch of his kids’ friends to be on the team, which we’d experienced in the past, with not the best results. Also, he requested for one person in particular to be on his team that, for the life of me, I find baffling. Different strokes for different folks, right? Whatever be the case, at that point, I realized I’d made a big mistake. I contacted the person in charge and relayed this and also asked that we reverse my previous request, which he thankfully did.

Now the rosters are set and we got what I asked for. My friend is a little baffled, and he has good reason to be. It’s not such a big deal, in the end, it’s just spring hockey, but why not make it as fun as possible? Or more appropriately, minimize the unpleasantness as much as you can, especially if you have that power.

We’ll see how this goes. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Paul Foreman for the pic.

Wishy-Washy (But Standing My Ground)

I love hockey just as much as the next person, maybe even more, and I think I put my fair share of time into it. More than the average parent, that’s for sure, but it’s feast or famine with this sport. You have nothing for several months, and then you’re immersed in it to where it becomes your life. By the end of the season, you just want it to be done, or at least I want it to be done. 

If it was a simply case of friends getting together and playing hockey for fun, that would be great, but it’s so much more complicated than that. You have families that are obsessed with the game, and are talking smack about their own kids and other people’s kids, and gossiping. It’s a strange environment, and one that’s hard not to get sucked into.

One aspect of this obsession is that some people just don’t want it to end. On the one hand, I understand, but we need to be reasonable. Some of us would do anything to squeeze out one more weekend, and that’s what’s happening right now. The season is over, the kids went to the state tournament, did a great job and had a great time, and now is an ideal time to end it all on a good note. There are, however, countless opportunities to keep it going.

Now to clear, we are still doing spring hockey, but it’s a much different beast. We are in Spring Fling, which is all about fun. No coaches, no keeping score, just pond hockey with no pressure. There are opportunities to play on select teams and enter tournaments, some of which have been offered to us, specifically N. At first I thought it would have been cool for him to do them, but he balked at all of them. He said he felt like one season was enough, and I respect that, albeit somewhat reluctantly. After ruminating on it, I realize how sensible he is being.

The problem is we are in a hyper-competitive environment where everyone is trying to get ahead, and all I hear about is how every kid is going this select team or this tournament. It’s hard to ignore, but I’m trying my best. These situations prey on our neuroses about doing what’s best for our kids, but you have to ask yourself, what is the point of all this hockey? I won’t get into it now, but I don’t think it’s realistic or healthy.

On that note, I’ve had to play the Bad Guy and put my foot down. A’s season is over, but for whatever reason, the powers that be want to play in one last tournament. When I heard about it, my first response was, literally, “Count me out.” Then one of the coaches called me and tried to change my mind, and I buckled under pressure and reversed course. It doesn’t help that A really wants to do it, mainly because, you guessed it, her friends are doing it.

Anyway, I had to reverse course again and tell them no thank you. This made me unpopular amongst the other coaches, the other players who want A to play, and of course, with A. For full disclosure, A has been very cool and very mature about it. She has not fought us over it, and was well within her rights to indicate that she wants to go and is bummed about not going, but ended it at that. Kudos to her for being such a f-ing cool kid, she’s awesome.

Of course I feel guilty, but also feel like maybe it’s not a bad thing to close the door on the season and move on. Plus, I hate buckling under pressure, and don’t always understand why people don’t simply respect our decisions and leave it at that. Why do they gotta give me such a hard time? I realize part of that is knowing I’m a pushover, but who wants to get something at the expense of another person’s peace of mind? Clearly several of my friends do.

Oh well, you can’t have it all, right? Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to CanonFire09 for the pic.

The Champions

A’s team won the state championship, which is really cool, everybody is thrilled. They played a tough game this past weekend, and it was close, but they pulled off the big win. That’s two championships in two years, not too shabby. Her older compatriots won the championship, as well, so the program is doing pretty well these days.

I'm excited for the girls, but it's been a long year, and I've been pretty wrapped up in hockey. I think for A, as much as she loves the game, the social aspect takes precedence over the actual game. She could be playing shuffleboard and having as much fun, as long as she could hang with her buddies.

For now, we'll bask in the glow of their achievement and look forward to some warmer weather activities.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Kisha T for the pic.

Learning Some New Tricks

This is an interesting development and one that is sort of cool and very enlightening. For most of my adult life, I’ve worked with computers that used the ubiquitous MS Word program. It’s pretty much the gold standard, and since I do mostly writing stuff, I’ve become accustomed to having it to the point where I don’t feel a computer is of any use to me without it. What good is a machine if I can’t write on it?

When I upgraded my operating system (OS) to Maverick, things changed. My Word program is old and outdated, and I have problems opening documents sent to me by people who have more modern versions of word. I get these .docx files, versus .doc files that I create. My old version of word cannot open .docx files, so I have to send them to R, where she converts them or opens them for me. She has the newer version of Word. I also run into problems with Excel files, or .xlsx files. Whatever be the case, it’s not the end of the world. I can also ask the sender to convert to .pdf, or send me an older version.

Well, as luck would have it, when I changed my OS, my Word application no longer worked. I was given fair warning about this before I upgraded, so I knew what I was getting into. I experimented a bit with other options, and discovered that I didn’t actually need MS Word. How crazy is that?

Using a combination of Google docs, TextEdit, and iCloud, I’ve found that I can survive just fine. I’m sure these options are not as powerful as the real application, but the reality of the matter is I only used a fraction of the capabilities of the program. I just don’t need to do fancy stuff. This may come back to haunt me at a later date, but for now, I’m feeling kind of stoked and liberated. Plus, my new OS is way cool, and I can’t help but think (wishful thinking, perhaps?) that my computer is running more smoothly.

I love when that happens.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Ronn aka "Blue" Aldaman for the pic.

Army Corps of Engineers

Despite the challenges of all the snow we had last week, the kids were thrilled to pieces to play in it. I have to say, they worked really hard and for a long time building snow forts and other structures, including an elaborate system of pathways. They were like the Army Corps of Engineers.

For someone who is all too familiar with whining about shoveling, I can attest to how much hard work went into their project. That was a lot of shoveling. What was really cool about it was the thought that went into it. They made all sorts of assorted lounges with multiple seats and even drink holders. There was a bar and a serving station, and even a fort with lookouts for invaders.

It was nice for them to get outside and burn off calories, especially when the weather is not warm and dry. I was reluctant to break their routine with lunch, but at some point they had to re-fuel. The mud room was a disaster, filled with snow and ice-encrusted clothes. It took about 10 minutes to clean up, but that’s a small price to pay for having your kids enjoy a cold and snowy winter day.

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

Dinner with Friends

Last week after N’s big tournament they went to supper at Bennington’s and his whole team went, or at least most of them. Enough to where we couldn’t back out of this one. GG was cool enough to reserve a table for the team, and all the families went. It was a big contingent because more than just N’s team went, a lot of families that were involved in the tournament one way or another attended, and it was a nice time.

Of course, I had some issues, but what would my life be like without some issues? First off is my social anxiety in big groups. I’ve learned to deal with it, embrace it even, for the sake of the kids, who want to be around their friends and teammates, which in the modern world of the homeschooling parent means that I have to be there, too. My parents never went through this, they never even knew who my friends were.

The other issue I have was the cost. Bennington’s is on the nicer side, so we were looking at double-digit burgers and the like. I couldn’t make an issue out of the cost because I didn’t want the kids to be self-conscious. We were there to have a good time, right? Suck it up, as the saying goes. The food was excellent, it’s just tough when you feel the money draining from your wallet.

The third issue was that we had an early morning the next day, so we had to eat and run. A had a 10:00AM game in New York, so we had to get up at 4:30AM the next morning, which meant an early bedtime. N had an early morning, too, just not as brutal. For the record, A is very good about getting up, and can bounce out of bed and be ready at the drop of a hat. With N, it’s a struggle, but he manages.

The final issue was that R was a little incensed at all the time we’re spending for hockey. I can’t totally blame her, but hockey just takes a lot of time. It’s hard, however, enjoying yourself at an event when someone sends you off with grumblings of discontent can ruin an evening, especially with the knowledge that when you get back home, you’ll be revisiting that environment of scorn.

To quote John Lennon, “Nobody told me there’d be days like these. Strange days, indeed.”

Sometimes life sure ain’t easy, but then again, if it was, what the heck would I have to write about?

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

Modern Day Computer Warriors

Talk about being hip with the times, we are moving into the 21st century in this household. Our kids still think we’re living in the dark ages in terms of technology, and in certain ways, that’s true. The reality is, like it or not, computers and technology are ingrained in our culture, and you can choose to ignore/reject it, but that puts you at a disadvantage in terms of being a fully functional in today’s world. This is especially true for young people. As cynical as I am about texting and all that smartphone obsession, and I don’t like seeing young people ignoring the world around them to check their devices, that’s sort of the world we live in. And while I don’t think you have to buy into it wholeheartedly, I also don’t think it’s beneficial to reject it completely.

With that in mind, we are gradually moving more and more in that direction. I still use a bare-bones Tracfone, which works fine, but my brother gave me his old iPhone, and I’m trying to familiarize myself with it, which is not that straightforward. There’s way too much going on with that screen.

Secondly, I want the kids to be comfortable with computers. They are definitely interested, and there are some amazing resources online for them to learn. Computer science is the way of the future, no question, and it also helps the kids have some balance in a world where we are surrounded by people obsessed with hockey. It’s hard not to give into it, a little, but we have to keep in mind it’s just a game. We’re here to have fun, right?

Finally, they like computers. What kid out there doesn’t? I am not a fan of playing video games or watching Youtube, but I do think it would be nice for our kids to be interested in programming, or some sort of computer science. Even designing video games would be cool, as long as they didn’t spend all day on them. That, for the record, is not going to happen.

Just FYI, I also upgraded my operating system on my computer, which was not something I thought was even possible. Just goes to show you, you never really know what you’re capable of until you try.

Now that my computer has entered the new millennium, I can operate more advanced software, including ones for designing “apps” and games. This should enhance our computer learning capabilities while moving us forward in terms of being computer-competent members of society… sort of.

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