When Aidan was 4 and half years old, he gladly went for a season of AYSO with The Green Knights. It was a very fun season. While he played, we cheered on the side lines, and Zoe very much wanted to join in and play, at a year and half.
Zoe is going to be starting in AYSO this summer, she has already decided that her team will be The Lollipops. (The XX chromosomes are just different than the XY chromosomes, no matter how much we want to deny that fact.) She has been practicing with Hubby, which is so cute to see, because she has Hubby's muscular legs. And she is just so focused, "Finally, my turn."
Aidan, on the other hand, will not be playing soccer anymore. Instead, we are becoming more and more entrenched in the world of hockey. Hockey is nothing like AYSO. AYSO doesn't keep score, but it is ALL about the score with hockey. While parents cheer at AYSO, parents are hockey scream, "SKATE!" to their children, never mind the kids can't hear anything with those helmets. AYSO is relatively inexpensive, hockey is very much unlike that. While not the most expensive sport ever, (horseback riding is, probably?), I am dreading buying a whole new set of gear when Aidan outgrows his current stuff.
Why are we doing this? I ask myself that EVERY time I drive to the rink. Just why am I freezing here, taking in the very unique odor of ice hockey gear? Do I really want to continue?
Apparently, though, we are continuing. Aidan has a tryout tomorrow for the traveling league, and according to his coaches, the ice rink Zambonie driver, the guy who hands out skates, and the figure skating director, Aidan has improved SO much. Just last December, he was barely going in a straight line. He loves it, and so I love it. But I am definitely, a bit concerned about the schedule. So concerned that I had a dream last night, that Aidan and Zoe needed to be at two different rinks at the same time. Yikes!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Midsummer Report
Summer goes by so quickly around here- with year round school, Aidan has just two weeks left.
Perhaps we planned a much too intense summer, that child is exhausted. After our vacation to The Big Apple, he spent a week of ice hockey camp in the am, and science camp in the pm. That schedule drove us crazy- he needed to get to the ice rink by 8, and one of us had to pick him up at 11, and take him to the afternoon camp. This past week, he did the skating camp, which was fabulous, because he was just already at the rink for all the ice hockey activities. Next week, he will be at soccer camp for six hours a day. I am exhausted just thinking about it. Then, one more week of science camp, and it will be all over.
Because this is the first summer for us as a hockey family, I have learned a lot. For instance, we need to schedule our vacation around the hockey training camp so that he can do two full weeks of it. Also, for those weeks, at 11 am, he will just need to either hang out with me or Hubby, to relax, eat, and sleep.
I never thought I would be a hockey mom, yet here I am, dreading the nasty smell of his gear (it isn't too bad yet, as he still has his very cute little pre-puberty body, and non of the sweat glands, yet.) He is going to try out for the traveling league in a few weeks, and let's just say that hockey is intense. He will have practice twice a week, and one of the practice is at a rink about 26 miles away. Ironically, about 2 miles from where I grew up. There will also be traveling games, therefore, oh sweet Lord Jesus, what are we getting ourselves into?
He loves it. He just absolutely loves skating. We are happy to along, because when kids are busy with a time consuming activity like hockey, they don't have time to get into trouble. They are just too tired. I am also not opposed to having hockey help him to get into college. His dream, or mine, hard to distinguish between the two, is that he will get to play hockey at Dartmouth College. We joke about asking his coach, who has coached for twenty years, if he has gotten any kid into an Ivy.
Along with playing a fairly isoteric sport, I want Aidan to pick an isoteric instrument also, like the bassoon, trombone, or something odd like that. Forget the flute or the violin, tons of kids do these instruments, but the bassoon? Not so many. Including Aidan, he really doesn't want to play anything other than the violin. So I will have to manipulate, I mean, work on, that.
Meanwhile, Zoe is thriving in figure skating. She is just so cute, going backwards and doing cross overs. Interestingly, at the rink where Aidan plays hockey, the figure skating is in a 'friendly' league, but there is a much more competitive league not too far away, which brings all kinds of options. She is quite proficient at reading the treble clef, but the bass clef, that, is her nemesis. Therefore, possibly, no cello in the future. However, I have high hopes, for another woodwind out of her. Interestingly, she asked for swimming lessons. "I remember when we used to go see Aidan's lessons, I want some lessons of my own."
With the activities of these two kids, I am slowly becoming unglued. Yet it is so fun to see them learn new skills. When I get a chance, I will post some videos of the kids doing their stuff.
Perhaps we planned a much too intense summer, that child is exhausted. After our vacation to The Big Apple, he spent a week of ice hockey camp in the am, and science camp in the pm. That schedule drove us crazy- he needed to get to the ice rink by 8, and one of us had to pick him up at 11, and take him to the afternoon camp. This past week, he did the skating camp, which was fabulous, because he was just already at the rink for all the ice hockey activities. Next week, he will be at soccer camp for six hours a day. I am exhausted just thinking about it. Then, one more week of science camp, and it will be all over.
Because this is the first summer for us as a hockey family, I have learned a lot. For instance, we need to schedule our vacation around the hockey training camp so that he can do two full weeks of it. Also, for those weeks, at 11 am, he will just need to either hang out with me or Hubby, to relax, eat, and sleep.
I never thought I would be a hockey mom, yet here I am, dreading the nasty smell of his gear (it isn't too bad yet, as he still has his very cute little pre-puberty body, and non of the sweat glands, yet.) He is going to try out for the traveling league in a few weeks, and let's just say that hockey is intense. He will have practice twice a week, and one of the practice is at a rink about 26 miles away. Ironically, about 2 miles from where I grew up. There will also be traveling games, therefore, oh sweet Lord Jesus, what are we getting ourselves into?
He loves it. He just absolutely loves skating. We are happy to along, because when kids are busy with a time consuming activity like hockey, they don't have time to get into trouble. They are just too tired. I am also not opposed to having hockey help him to get into college. His dream, or mine, hard to distinguish between the two, is that he will get to play hockey at Dartmouth College. We joke about asking his coach, who has coached for twenty years, if he has gotten any kid into an Ivy.
Along with playing a fairly isoteric sport, I want Aidan to pick an isoteric instrument also, like the bassoon, trombone, or something odd like that. Forget the flute or the violin, tons of kids do these instruments, but the bassoon? Not so many. Including Aidan, he really doesn't want to play anything other than the violin. So I will have to manipulate, I mean, work on, that.
Meanwhile, Zoe is thriving in figure skating. She is just so cute, going backwards and doing cross overs. Interestingly, at the rink where Aidan plays hockey, the figure skating is in a 'friendly' league, but there is a much more competitive league not too far away, which brings all kinds of options. She is quite proficient at reading the treble clef, but the bass clef, that, is her nemesis. Therefore, possibly, no cello in the future. However, I have high hopes, for another woodwind out of her. Interestingly, she asked for swimming lessons. "I remember when we used to go see Aidan's lessons, I want some lessons of my own."
With the activities of these two kids, I am slowly becoming unglued. Yet it is so fun to see them learn new skills. When I get a chance, I will post some videos of the kids doing their stuff.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
No Longer a Native
When we lived in New York City, we often yearned to move back home to California, to be away from the skitters, the humidity, the yellow snow, the crowds, for a land of beautiful weather, great facilities for laundry, and basically, comfort.
Ever since we left though, I have been dreaming about moving back. Go figure.
However, as we become more and more entrenched in our careers here in California, the likelihood of that diminishes so greatly. (Really, am I going to move to a new city, and start over with a private practice? Probably not. Am I going to find a job, and not be my own boss anymore, even less likely.) Instead, we go there for vacations. Aidan is now 7 years old, and that young man has been to New York, twice, as a fetus, and thrice, as an actual human. Other than Tahoe, we go to New York City the most. Not Disneyland, not Yosemite, but Manhattan.
All the other times, I still felt like a New Yorker. This time, however, I felt like a tourist. How the mighty has fallen... These are the ways that I was a tourist.
1. I didn't even carry my own Metro Card anymore. When I lived there, my little yellow card had its own slot in the wallet. This time, I threw my wallet in Hubby's backpack, and it was just too much of a hassle to ask for my wallet, to retrieve the card, and swipe it every time. So Hubby carried it for me.
2. I couldn't even swipe it right. "Please swipe again" was the message that I got EACH AND EVERY TIME, for the first five days of our trip. Good grief. I became the annoying tourist who hogged the turnstile and could not get in.
3. We were carrying a BACKPACK. New Yorker's DO NOT carry backpacks, unless they are going to the grocery store. Women there carry purses, men use messenger bags, NOT BACKPACKS.
4. We had our kids with us. It was really weird, actually. Other then the obvious kid places, like the park, museums, Time Square, Herald Square, we were the only people with kids. What do Manhattanites do with their offsprings? I know there are some, but where were they?!
5. As much as we tried to keep our stride like the natives, we just weren't able to.
Ahhh, I am no longer a New Yorker. Isn't that sad?! I think it is. I love how tough NYC is, the grittiness of it. One must toughen up, to be able to push past all those annoying tourists to catch a train, to snake one's way through crowds of people, to endure the brusqueness of the city. Our children, are definitely California kids. When we left, Zoe said, "Our house has so much more space than the apartment." Aidan said, "New York City is so dirty." These are soft kids. soft.
We had a great time though! Aidan and Zoe LOVED the playgrounds- we went to 9 playgrounds over our trip. Most of the playgrounds had water play, and THEY JUST ABSOLUTELY loved it. We had great food, great company (some old friends, my sister and her husband, my parents), and tried a lot of different things.
If you are lucky enough to live there, you must check out Barge Music. It is the only floating music hall in the world, and it is docked in the East River, on the Brooklyn side. They do free concerts every Saturday at 3 pm.
We also saw Mary Poppins via TKTS. Awesomeness. If I have a chance, I will detail the expert logistics involved with that event.
It is clear, that if we manage to move there, it will have to be in retirement. It makes great financial sense: let's move to the most expensive city in the country, when we are no longer making money. Are you with us?
Ever since we left though, I have been dreaming about moving back. Go figure.
However, as we become more and more entrenched in our careers here in California, the likelihood of that diminishes so greatly. (Really, am I going to move to a new city, and start over with a private practice? Probably not. Am I going to find a job, and not be my own boss anymore, even less likely.) Instead, we go there for vacations. Aidan is now 7 years old, and that young man has been to New York, twice, as a fetus, and thrice, as an actual human. Other than Tahoe, we go to New York City the most. Not Disneyland, not Yosemite, but Manhattan.
All the other times, I still felt like a New Yorker. This time, however, I felt like a tourist. How the mighty has fallen... These are the ways that I was a tourist.
1. I didn't even carry my own Metro Card anymore. When I lived there, my little yellow card had its own slot in the wallet. This time, I threw my wallet in Hubby's backpack, and it was just too much of a hassle to ask for my wallet, to retrieve the card, and swipe it every time. So Hubby carried it for me.
2. I couldn't even swipe it right. "Please swipe again" was the message that I got EACH AND EVERY TIME, for the first five days of our trip. Good grief. I became the annoying tourist who hogged the turnstile and could not get in.
3. We were carrying a BACKPACK. New Yorker's DO NOT carry backpacks, unless they are going to the grocery store. Women there carry purses, men use messenger bags, NOT BACKPACKS.
4. We had our kids with us. It was really weird, actually. Other then the obvious kid places, like the park, museums, Time Square, Herald Square, we were the only people with kids. What do Manhattanites do with their offsprings? I know there are some, but where were they?!
5. As much as we tried to keep our stride like the natives, we just weren't able to.
Ahhh, I am no longer a New Yorker. Isn't that sad?! I think it is. I love how tough NYC is, the grittiness of it. One must toughen up, to be able to push past all those annoying tourists to catch a train, to snake one's way through crowds of people, to endure the brusqueness of the city. Our children, are definitely California kids. When we left, Zoe said, "Our house has so much more space than the apartment." Aidan said, "New York City is so dirty." These are soft kids. soft.
We had a great time though! Aidan and Zoe LOVED the playgrounds- we went to 9 playgrounds over our trip. Most of the playgrounds had water play, and THEY JUST ABSOLUTELY loved it. We had great food, great company (some old friends, my sister and her husband, my parents), and tried a lot of different things.
If you are lucky enough to live there, you must check out Barge Music. It is the only floating music hall in the world, and it is docked in the East River, on the Brooklyn side. They do free concerts every Saturday at 3 pm.
We also saw Mary Poppins via TKTS. Awesomeness. If I have a chance, I will detail the expert logistics involved with that event.
It is clear, that if we manage to move there, it will have to be in retirement. It makes great financial sense: let's move to the most expensive city in the country, when we are no longer making money. Are you with us?
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