Silver Stick 2011

'Twas the night after Thanksgiving, not a soul was stirring, except for this mother. While Hubby and I had gone to bed after midnight- because he needed to buy some tickets via a Black Friday special to go see the Sharks with Aidan- I was wide awake at 3:30. As much as I tried to go back to sleep, I just couldn't. I got up at 4:20, got dressed, and dashed out to The Home Depot to get in line to buy $0.99 poinsettias and $5 wreaths. By 5:15, I was driving away with 4 wreaths and 15 pots of the gloriously red plants. Quietly, I tip toed back into the house after getting the other car ready, scooped my 60 pound hockey player, and loaded him in the car. By 5:25, we were speeding down the highway to get to his third silver stick game.

Silver Stick sums up our Thanksgiving. This tournament is a big deal. The winners from various regions meet up in Michigan for a national championship tournament, and the winners do go home with silver sticks! Aidan played his first game on Wednesday evening and won. On Thanksgiving Day, they played one of the top teams in the country. The other team, The Phoenix Coyotes, were amazing to watch. Accordingly to the coach, five of the boys had NHL players for fathers. As much as Aidan's team had tried, they lost, 0:9. Aidan cried at the end. It was a tough, tough game.

There is something special about taking Aidan to a very, very, early hockey game. He is as sleepy as can be, I get to hold his little body, although it sure is getting heavier, and he sits so quietly in the car. As I am driving zooming down the dark highway at 75 mph, he tries really hard to go back to sleep. But he never can go back to sleep. As twilight comes up, his sweet little voice asks for a story on CD. I try to make him eat something, he invariably says no thanks. I love being with him then, just the two of us, especially when he is kinda sleepy. Our energy levels are equally matched.

This third game, Aidan played against a local team, and I had really wanted Aidan's team to win. But they lost. 0:9. It was truly a sucky, sucky, game to watch. The coach was MAD, and I couldn't blame him, as the boys played like fecal matter. Actually, I can blame the coach- he didn't get the boys warmed up! (But that is a different story for another day.)

After the game, Aidan and I had wanted to get some breakfast, but we couldn't find a McDonald's with a drive-through. This is another thing I love to do with Aidan, just the two of us, getting a breakfast sandwich from the Golden Arches after a game. Instead, we found a Lee's Sandwich and he asked for 'the special sandwich you get for me in a paper bag.' Oh dear child, they don't sell a sandwich in a paper bag, Mommy makes the sandwich for you to catch all the crumbs! As we zoomed back home, we ate our sandwich-in-paper-bags, and listened to the adventures of Charlie Bucket at the chocolate factory.

This morning, Hubby was the one who couldn't sleep past 3:30 am, and the two of them went for game #4. Game #4, apparently, was AWESOME. Aidan scored! And they won, 7:0! Yes, Hubby got to watch an awesome game, while I watched a sucky, sucky, game.

They didn't make it to the semi-finals, in a way, I am relieved: we get to have a free day before school on Monday, on the other hand, it would have been SO cool to advance to the semifinals. Maybe next year.

I suspect, as long as Aidan is playing hockey, we will always be doing Thanksgivings with the Silver Sticks.