Hockey Night in Striped Pajama Pants

We always said that we didn't want Zoey playing hockey. Of course, if it was something that she wanted to do, or asked to try, we'd oblige, but we weren't going to encourage it. Too expensive. Too tough to navigate early on as a girl (without spending random years with boys teams), and too intrusive into our lives. Then Hockey Night in Canada returns, and Zed's quick to grab her stick and ask for her Canucks jersey, and it's game on...in the living room.

It'd be ridiculously cute to watch her play organized hockey, but we just might be the worst Canadian parents ever because we're just not willing to commit to that. It's mostly about money and travel and time, but it's partly about the utter lack of opportunities for young girls just learning the game. We want her to be around other girls, making friends, having fun, traveling to games...not having to change in a separate dressing room because she's the only girl on her Tyke hockey team. That's not cool. It defeats the whole purpose of playing...it's about fun, and relationships, and confidence and about a dozen other things besides hockey.

So she got new skates, and we have a lot of fun when the games are on TV, but until she asks to play for real, to join an actual team...I guess it's meter sticks with Kraft dinner boxes taped to them, and living room shoot outs. I love the game, but not enough to force it on anyone.