It's All In The Car Ride

I used to be quite conservative with our kids hockey travel.  Wherever possible we drove our kids to each and every practice and game and sat and watched.  Over the past year, things have gotten crazy and while we still make it to most games, we often share the rides to out of town games and practices.  On most weekend days where there are 3 or more events, one or more of our kids grab a ride with someone on their team, and we try to offer rides as well.  Sometimes I will offer to drive other parents as well, for some adult conversation and to save gas.

While I used to think my kids needed one of their parents for each and every event, they much prefer to ride with someone else, and are having much happier hockey seasons, making new friends and learning about other families.  The worst car rides are ones where the guest child brings along an iPod, and or handheld game and tunes everyone else out during the ride.  The best rides involve laughter coming from the back seat and new friends.