Hockey Moms Need Help
Hockey moms are compared to so many things – grizzly bears, pit bulls, you name it. But if I had to compare myself as a hockey mom to any animal, it would be roadrunner. I am finding myself constantly running from place to place, dropping off one kid just to pick up another… and then I do it all over again. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love hockey season but the time crunch can be paralyzing.
Our little neighborhood rink is more like a family than friends, so when we found ourselves all running around like crazy, we decided to take a step back, take a breath, and celebrate the season together. What better way to celebrate than with the universal family food: PIZZA!
Papa Murphy’s to the Rescue
Luckily we have a Papa Murphy’s in our neighborhood. They take preorders, which made it easy for us to stop for a quick in-and-out pick up; we were loaded up with our big order and on the way to the rink within minutes. Papa Murphy’s has plenty of options so we could customize our pizzas. We may be one big, happy hockey family, but everyone has a different opinion about the best pizza toppings! Papa Murphy’s accommodated us by providing pizzas with everything from plain cheese to meat lover’s. They also loaded us up with delicious add ons, like salads, cheese bread, and dessert. We were rolling into the rink with a complete meal for every team member and their parents and siblings.
Bonding Over Pizza Pies
The great thing about youth hockey is that everyone is looking for a reason to get together. So when we made the all-call for family pizza night, literally everyone made sure to make it over. Families came early to rink rat and watch hockey on the rink’s TV. Between analyzing the shootout from the women’s hockey Olympic win over Canada and the start of the Wild game, the smell of baking pizza wafting through the air brought everyone together to refuel. We passed around plates of warm, gooey pizza slices and soon the roar of the rink trickled down into near silence as everyone dug into their food.
After dinner, kids once again hit the rink to burn off some energy. Hockey sisters and brothers played games and ate copious amounts of Papa Murphy’s s’mores dessert pizzas while their team member siblings took off their helmets for just enough time to devour some fresh baked cookies before heading back out for their own Olympic-inspired shootout.
Our night of pizza and fun helped me realize that it’s important to occasionally let someone else take care of dinner preparation so that I can take the extra time to enjoy the special moments that are happening around me. Clean up was quick and simple; parents were able to pick up after the kids and get right back to what matters most: watching our kids grow in ability and camaraderie on the ice. Our hockey family is so important, not only to my son, but to my whole family. As they say, the days are long but the years are short, and we have to enjoy the ride rink!
