On Saturday night it was Wilson’s turn to have his special night with Mom and Dad. Wilson was so excited. He had been talking about it all week and could hardly sit still on the way to the Charlotte Checkers hockey game. It is so touching to see how energized the kids are when they get to spend quality time with us. It makes me realize how much they need that personal time with Tom and myself. I am so thankful that this is what we decided to give the kids for their birthdays. It is a much better gift than the kind that they can unwrap.
We arrived at the arena in time to find our seats and buy Wilson his special “treat” for the evening – he chose a pizza and a coke. (Yep, he even got caffeine.) We had great seats; they were near the goal and about five rows from the glass. The game started and Wilson was wide-eyed. There was so much action….and fighting. I had forgotten how much fighting there was in hockey. There were grown men beating the hell out of each other while the crowd cheered them on. Of course Wilson loved it, but I had to remind him that the players were being very good sports. I think he really liked the fact that after each fight the players had to go to “time out” in the penalty box. For the rest of the game, he knew exactly how many players were in the penalty box. I guess he could relate…hahahahahaha….
We had such a wonderful time together that night. Wilson sat on Tom’s lap most of the night while I sat next to them, and we all cuddled under the blanket that we brought. I started to cry when the game first began because I realized that I don’t do too many special things with just Wilson. He is such an amazing boy, but when he was two I had just had another baby. He was squeezed out of his usual place in my lap. Him being a somewhat difficult child didn’t help either. At the game, I think I was crying out of guilt and a bit of remorse for the things that I hadn’t done with him over the last few years. Wilson is an amazing child and I am so thankful that I got to spend that time with him. I plan to do a better job of spending more quality time with him in the future.
By 9:00pm that night, Wilson was ready to go home. He made it through the first two periods of the game, but was fading fast. I know that we will go to another hockey game this season. The other kids want to go next time as well. I never thought that hockey games would be a family event, but I guess they will be.