Sk8rBoi/Hockey Monkey

We are a Devils House. No not the dark angel, belezabub, satanesque devils. The New Jersey Devils Hockey team. We live in New Jersey we are Devils fans. Before the children came, DirectorMom and I would go to games quite often. I've taken the kids to see the Devils practice in West Orange. And Tiernan has even been to two games already in his short life. We are hockey people...
We have neighbors, Officer Gary and family. Officer Gary is a local constable, and good guy. He, too has kids, four of them -- two sets of twins under the age of three. (Anytime I think I got troubles. I think of Gary and his wife.) He too, is a hockey person. But, he is a Rangers fan. There is no accounting for taste. The Rangers and the Devils are rivals. Rangers fans hate the Devils, Devils fans hate the Rangers.
Gary's boy Luke is Tiernan's age. And he mentioned to me that Luke was going to start ice skating lessons, and the local ice rink. I've been saying that I want Tiernan to learn to skate, but didn't think he could start until he was four. I was wrong. So, I asked Tiernan if he wanted to take Hockey lessons, and he got very excited. He wanted to go that minute. He's been playing hockey outside since he could walk. He's pretty good with a stick. See the video from a year ago.

So now Tiernan and Luke are learning to skate at hockey lessons. Tiernan had his first lesson last week. All day he kept saying, are we going to hockey yet. And I had to tell him soon. When it was time to go, we're getting in the car and he starts freaking out. "Daddy, I need my stick. I can't play hocey without a stick. I need my stick. My stick." I explained to him that he wouldn't need his stick. He didn't understand, all he truly understands is hockey is played with a stick and puck.
We get to the rink, of course I have Reagan in tow. I have to get him signed up for lessons and get the skates on him and get him ready to skate. All the while Reagan is running around the place like a banshee. Thank God Officer Gary and his wife, Kerry, were there. Kerry was able to corrall Reagan while I got Tiernan set to do battle with the icey forces of gravity and physics.
The lesson is 30 minutes, he spent 28 minutes on his ass.
The lessons are for kids who have never seen ice. So he wasn't the only one with a cold keister. They give the kids pushers, which are basically walkers for skaters. The coach showed Tiernan how to get up. One leg at time, while holding on to the pusher. And after a while he caught on.
I was outside the rink watching him and thinking, "Oh my God! I have scarred my son for life. He'll never want to watch hockey again. He's going to come off the ice crying, humilated, beaten, defeated." But he hung in there and learned to get up. And fall without hurting himself.
Tiernan and Luke were two great examples of approaches to life. Luke, who is a couple of months younger than Tiernan, is all thought. He stood on his skates, holding on to his pusher, thinking....thinking......thinking and slowly moving his feet to skate, slowly.
Tiernan on the other hand, was all moving and no thought. He looked like a Keystone Cop. Both feet flying in seven directions at once. Woop, woop, woop, woop, plop on his butt. He'd get up and woop, woop, wooop, splat. This went of for the entire class.
About three-quarters throught the class, Luke in his Rangers jersey, and Tiernan in his Devils Jersey, had fallen/skated close to each other. And Tiernan being the consumpate Devils fan promptly, dumps Ranger fan Luke on his can.
After a thirty minutes, its is time to come off. I am preparing myself for Tiernan being traumatized, and crying and never wanting to come back. But he's fine. As I am taking his skates off, the crying starts. "Dad, I don't want to stop. I want to keep skating. I want to go back. I don't want to go home." I explain to him that he can't go back on the ice, that the big kids are practicing now. He wants to go back and play with the big kids. He continues crying.
As we leaving and Tiernan is in tears, I tell him, "There's no crying in Hockey." He can't wait to go back next week.