![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-mfaKqX.jpeg)
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-DjzjFG.jpeg)
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-50Zypn.jpeg)
Your local arena becomes like a second home and you feel that sense of hometown pride and comfort just stepping into the rink. The smells and sights and familiar faces are welcoming and warm like extended family. (It is still her favorite rink ever.) The zamboni driver is your neighbour’s nephew, the girl at the snack bar is also your babysitter and the smoker hanging around the front door is somebody’s grandpa.
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-5sq2a7.jpeg)
Team fees start to increase as your child gets older and the level of hockey becomes more competitive.
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-XEEj_D.jpeg)
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-6kijJ3.jpeg)
Those hotel stays were just the best vacations weren’t they? Especially if you were the parent on lifeguard duty at the stifling hot pool area. But the kids love the hotel part of away weekends! They could run around the hotel with pretty much no adult supervision and get into all kinds of shenanigans while the parents were doing the same thing. Mini-stick hockey was all the rage in the hallways. Tough luck for the regular guests that may have been mixed in amongst us in the hallway from hell. Now that we are at the end of it all nobody remembers the wins and the losses on those weekends but everyone remembers the time hotel security had to be called because the Moms were getting out of control in Sudbury. Or the time the Dads were lucky to not get deported from Vermont for their crazy high jinks. Or the many times the Captain’s Cup challenge sailed into port and became overly boisterous. Or the time when we discovered two of the quiet Moms were actually closet shooter girls. Oh yeah and the Detroit Hard Rock Café will never be the same.
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-5IZwFT.jpeg)
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-hHTIVK.jpeg)
The memories and stories of our minor hockey years are to be cherished and embellished over time. There were wins and losses to be sure and there were tears of joy and heartache along the way. Friendships were made and yes some girls were lost to other sports, jobs, boyfriends or school itself (gasp). Team mates become best friends and sisters. Our eyes were opened to all sorts of human behavior including the good, the bad and the ugly. Countless volunteer hours from parents, coaches, trainers, statisticians, managers, website updaters, referees, time clockers, tournament organizers and all manner of things in between have been offered up and accepted gratefully by parents and players alike. Siblings have spent hours being dragged around arenas from coast to coast. What fun we have all had! And now it seems for us it has come to an end.
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-9DgNRT.jpeg)
Although this is the end of minor hockey for us, it is the beginning of the next chapter. My heart is sad but also overjoyed that for the next four years we will still be able to watch her play NCAA division 1 university hockey. So we can still hang on for a while longer. Bittersweet times for us parents. Life as we have known it is taking a dramatic turn. Whatever will we do with all that extra time and money?! Curling? Darts? Perhaps a vacation? Someone said to me recently that now we can have our life back. What does that even mean? This IS our life.
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-nYD1pH.jpeg)
My daughter played her last minor hockey games yesterday. She scored three goals and got two penalties. Not a bad way to wrap it all up. The last thing I always say to her before each and every game is to work hard and have fun. And she always does. I have been telling her that with a kiss on the cheek before every game since she was seven years old and I told her again yesterday. She is 18 now and I know that as always, she did work hard and she did have fun. So for that, when she gets home from her road trip today, I know exactly what I am going to do. I am going to take her to the local arena and buy her a slushie. Because it was always about the slushies.
I sure hope they have slushies at Boston University…
![REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF MY CHILD'S MINOR HOCKEY CAREER](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/145/1453071/reflections-at-the-end-of-my-childs-minor-hoc-L-TpY7Ub.jpeg)