Vancouver is my team. Has always been my team. Back in 1994, I remember watching game seven of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in my basement, alone. My Dad hates the Canucks and I couldn't stand his comments. When they came a Nathan Lafayette goal post away from taking it to overtime against the Rangers, I was pretty sad. Since then, I have attended games when the rink was a ghost town and sneaking a mickey in was no big deal. I sat through the dead puck era and I have loved on my Canucks for years. Hey, I converted Captain Canada from a Leafs fan to a Canucks fan. He used to bleed blue and white. Now he bleeds blue, green and white. I attended Trevor Linden's final game and Jack's middle name is Linden for goodness sake. So when they say, "We are all Canucks," I know they are talking about me. So this year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs were especially exciting, nerve racking and thrilling to watch. I can finally speak about this because the melancholy I felt because of their loss and those other awful things that transpired downtown after the game Wednesday, has somewhat subsided. While watching my team in the playoff, I learned some pretty good life lessons that can be applied to parenting.
1.
Just take it one game at a time. This was the Canucks' mantra during the playoffs. Don't look too far ahead. But also don't look behind you. After a bad game, let it go. As a parent, taking it one day at a time, one moment at a time is a good way to go. It allows you to savour the little moments that you want to hold onto and never let go. But it also allows you to forget about the bad day. The crying kids, the raised voices, the pee all over the floor. Don't dwell on it. Let it go and work towards a better day, minute or hour.
2.
Turn the other cheek. Perhaps in the end, this was part of the Canucks undoing, but for the most part, the Canucks did a good job of turning the other cheek and just playing their game. But, as a parent, in a moment of frustration, you need to walk away. Instead of getting into a power struggle with your child, that you probably will not win, turn the other cheek and try another approach.
3.
Fight the urge to blame other people and other things. After game seven, the Canucks could have blamed injuries or officiating. They didn't. They took the high road and acknowledged that in the series, the Bruins were a better team and that they did not score enough to win. I say kudos to them. When I am having a bad day, I catch myself being negative and mentally blaming other things. Sometimes I just need to acknowledge that today is not my day and I don't have my A Game.
4.
Being a referee is no fun. No matter what you do, someone is always mad, frustrated or upset with you. Never in all my years of watching hockey, have I heard the officiating more criticized than it was this year. I am not going to lie, I have a few things to say about it myself. But I will save that for the day the Team 1040 calls me for an opinion piece. I know from being a referee for Jack and Sarah, it is not easy. The toy that has not been looked at for six months, is all of the sudden the best thing ever and both kids want to play with it immediately. No matter what my decision, someone is going to be upset and likely crying. I find the oven timer is my best friend for helping with turn taking. But one child always feels like they are in the penalty box, as he/she waits rather impatiently for a turn.
5. Sometimes no matter how prepared you are, things just don't go as planned. The Canucks prepared all year for the fight of their lives, to win it all and hoist the Stanley Cup. The years of building their team, winning the Presidents Trophy to earn home ice advantage and all their mental and physical preparation and they came up one game and several goals short. The same can be said for parenting. It could be the big things such as childbirth, breastfeeding, sleeping through the night or a small thing like an outing to the park. All the planning and preparedness in the world and it still may not go as planned or be quite what you expected. Case in point, last week we were running errands and Jack pooped. I was stuck in a washroom at the mall with no diapers or wipes. His diaper was not salvageable so we put his pants back on and he went home commando. Wait, there was no preparedness in that story at all. It was on that day, that I was just taking it one game at a time.
Are you a hockey fan? What did you learn from the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
