Hockey Mom Diaries: Day 3

The third hockey lesson has come and gone. Jordan looks a lot more comfortable on the ice. He is still significantly behind the older kids in skating but his smile says everything about his experience each week.

Equipment is going to be the death of me until he grows a few more inches. Good luck finding a jersey for a kid his size! Jerseys come in 2-4T or youth small. 2-4T is too small on him. Youth small is like a dress and he cannot find his hands even if we roll the sleeves up. His shoulder pads are almost suffocating him because they are a youth small. Youth medium was waaaaay too big. *Face Palm* GROW, KID. GROW!

He almost scored a goal this week! Problem is he fell so someone else nabbed the puck. As it turns out, the ice in the studio rink is pretty torn up by the time Jordan’s class gets on it. There is a figure skating class right before his class and another hockey class immediately following his. I don’t know what the ice resurfacing schedule is, but I can tell you that the kids are falling all over the place hitting ruts and snow banks on the ice. It’s ridiculous. They need to get on that. It isn’t safe.

We went to the public skate at Mount Lebanon last Friday and there was the same issue. Their public skate sessions last sometimes 4 hours. They definitely aren’t cleaning the ice at least every hour. After about 15 minutes of skating I had to get Jordan off the ice before one of us busted an ankle.

Then there is the stench of hockey. This is the only rink I have ever been to that quite frankly smells like a sweaty ball sack and feet. I’d ask for you to pardon my vulgarity, but I’m not ashamed to say it and quite frankly there is no other way to describe the wretched smell of sweat drenched hockey equipment. Disgusting.

The only other incident this week was that we had our first injury. When the kids were getting off of the ice, Jordan and other kid collided and got tangled. The other kid got up and got off the ice, but Jordan was still on the ground not moving. I hurried over to the door to the ice as he was getting up. Even through his cage on his helmet, I could see the tears. I didn’t know what hurt or what part of the collision was to blame for his injury, I just knew I had to get him off the ice. I reached my hand out and urged him to skate to me. One of the coaches asked what was wrong. I told her he and another kid fell on each other.

Here of course is where the issue comes in. No one would move to let me get him out of the bench area of the studio rink out to the lockers so I could get his equipment off and assess the damage. I have a crying toddler who just keeps saying “Mommy it hurts. It hurts” and everyone just looks at me like I have 5 heads as I’m excusing myself, telling Jordan we have to get his pads off so I can check him out. We were the last ones out of the studio. Thanks for nothing, everyone. And yes. My son is fine.

After my brother and I got off his equipment and calmed him down (still, no one even acknowledging that we are sitting there with a crying, snotty child complaining of pain next to their happy kids) we found out that he took a stick to the ribs. Ouch. I’m just grateful it wasn’t a skate blade as I had feared.

Four more weeks of level 1 to survive!