My friend’s family is a hockey family.
Both her boys play and she and her husband have helped coach, worked the concessions booth and shuttled their sons to lessons, practice and games.
And they absolutely love it.
Yet, awhile back, my friend was talking to another friend, who mentioned how into competitive swimming her kids were. All of a sudden, my friend wondered, should we have our boys swim? Should we also be a swim family?
The short answer ended up to be “no,” for reasons including her kids didn’t want to join a swim team, there isn’t enough time to be in every sport and — importantly — they love hockey.
Isn’t it interesting how often we think what we’re doing isn’t enough?
I remember a few years ago being at one of my kids’ soccer games. A teammate’s mom asked me what else my son and daughter were into. She must have noticed the blank look on my face because she quickly added that her kids were also doing t-ball and tap dance and youth theater and a few other activities. “Uhhh, yeah, my kids do soccer,” I said, awkwardly gesturing to the field in front of us.
What I wish I’d said was, “Oh, that is awesome! Your kids must love being so active. The best fit for us right now is doing one organized sport at a time because we love to travel and hike and just spend time together at home.”
One of the many things this strange pandemic time is teaching me is to be clear about what works for my family and confident in our decisions. And to be supportive — not judgmental — about the choices others are making regarding what’s best for them.
Since there’s never been enough time to do everything, why not be intentional about what you choose to fit into your life? Get as close as you can to spending your time, energy and money on things you really love and value, and let the rest go.
So be a hockey family — or a basketball family, or a music family, or a chill-at-home family, or whatever you love most — all in, no regrets. And then show up as cheering fans for the games other families choose.
– Katie Vaughn
Katie Vaughn is the editor and co-founder of Northerly. She is a University of Wisconsin-Madison and Stanford University-trained journalist with experience as a writer, reporter, editor, blogger and author. She lives in Madison with her husband, daughter and son, and is always up for an adventure.