The air is beginning to cool, pumpkin-flavored EVERYTHINGS are lining the shelves and the scramble for hockey sign-ups is upon us.  Welcome to Fall!

I myself am a seasoned Hockey Mom.  The obsession began when my son was three.  The weekly whine about playing hockey from this mini-person had my husband and I scratching our heads.  Where in the world are we going to find hockey in central Indiana?  When my son was five, I was making my daily trek to and from preschool when out of nowhere popped up a sign advertising “Learn How to Play Hockey!”   Little did I know that one sign would change the course of our lives.

That first practice was terrifying… for ME!  “What in the world do I do with the socks?”  “Is this chest thing on backwards?”  “What do you mean your helmet is too tight?”  “I have to sharpen your skates?!”  ” You should have peed BEFORE I got you dressed!”  By time I got him on the ice I was sweating, out of breath, and seriously in need of a beer.  My mood changed in an instant as I watched this womb-nugget who was geared up nearly beyond recognition take off across the ice.  He had always maintained “Mom, I already know how to skate”.  But darned if he didn’t take off like he had just been waiting for open sky to use his wings.  He smiled the entire time he was on the ice.  In fact, he smiled the whole season.

Jumping ahead seven years, I now help run that same league.  I see these new parents walk in on the first practice of the season with that same look of terror in their eyes and you can almost feel their panic.  To those moms and dads, I want to reassure you that you are not alone.  All across the country, thousands of parents are feeling the same way.  They are unclear where to park, they have no idea what that one piece of equipment is for, they don’t know that skates out of the box need sharpened, and they can’t figure out what is up with all the tape?!  Just breathe… it’s okay.   At any rink in the world there will be a seasoned mom or dad who knows what you are experiencing.  We’ll look for out you, and we want to help you any way we can.  As parents who have felt that grip of tension, we do our best to help you learn how to put your kids equipment on, tighten those pesky waxed laces, find a screwdriver for the helmet that doesn’t fit quite right, or simply make you feel welcome.  We want to make sure you don’t get so caught up in the stress of the moment that you forget to watch your child learn to spread their wings and fly.  It’s a moment you will never regret or forget.

My son is now a Bantam, and next year will be our last with an organization that we consider family.  Yet even now as a moody teenager and seven years of hockey under his belt, I still see that same smile under the cage.  Those are the moments that make all the stress of hockey life melt away.  Embrace the journey.  I promise you – it’s worth it.

Kelly McGraw is the Treasurer of the South Indy Youth Hockey Association, the Queen of Rink Cleaning, and an obsessed but usually well-behaved Hockey Mom.  She also serves as a coach for the SIYHA Learn To Skate and Mini-Mite programs, and can frequently be found at the rink even when her son is not skating.