Thor Jr. started Hockey this week. He’s not in a league (Tangent: do you have any idea how much it costs to register your kid in hockey? $500! Holy hockey sticks batmom! And that doesn’t include equipment! /tangent), but we’ve signed him up for something called Tot Hockey which is supposed to teach him the fundamentals of hockey. Then, next year we’ll bite the cash bullet and register him with the local league.
Thor Jr. had his first class this week. It was my first experience with hockey equipment. Specifically, strapping a 6 year old into all this equipment. In a limited timeframe. It took us 20+ minutes to get him undressed and then geared up. Shoulder pads, shin pads, elbow pads, jock/cup, garters, pants, socks, skates, helmet – oh my! And don’t forget the jersey! It was at this point that I decided it was a heck of a lot easier to be a soccer mom than to be a hockey mom. He did look great though! And he stepped out on to the ice without a problem. It’s been a few months since he’s been on skates so I wasn’t sure if he’d land on his butt within the first 2 strides or not. He thoroughly enjoyed the session and can’t wait to go back next week.
Which brings us back to the equipment-strapping-in again. And the fact that it’s easier to be a soccer mom and carry around a bag of soccer balls and pylons then it is to strap garters onto hockey socks. Wait a sec – before you hit that comment button and inform me about the new jocks that have velcro to hook up hockey socks, yeah, we know about those. But Thor thought we should go with the garters. Too bad Thor isn’t there to strap Thor Jr into everything! Next year (or 2 sessions from now, depending on how long I last with this) we’ll get him the jock/velcro/sock combo. Of course, with all of this equipment comes a mother-honkin’-sized bag. It’s the same size as the team bag for soccer. Hats off to you Hockey Moms! I don’t know how you do it.