Sled Dog hell

Last Friday night I had the pleasure to fill-in for a friend of mine's motherly duties and took her 9-year-old to his track and field event, along with his three-year-old brother. Perhaps I have just blocked out parts of my childhood, but I can't recall anything in my past coming even close to resembling the sight that we encountered.

First of all was the parking lot. I couldn't help but think of all the parents who were driving around with one or more children in their vehicle, trying to find a place to park so that they would be on time for their respective races. The lines of lights in a pseudo-traffic jam were enough to think that the stress levels of the parents were in the red zone. When I asked the flag guy where I should park, he looked at me helplessly and said to park in the parkade half a kilometre from our destinated building.
"But the kids don't have mitts!" I exclaimed.
He just shrugged.

Off we went to the promised-land of parking, Kody being upset about being late and Nik trying to get my attention to talk to me. I assured them all that we would get to our finish line before Kody would begin his race. After we walked to the Fieldhouse, we were faced with yet another hurdle - people. Kids, adults, and teenagers filled every orface of the building. Nik held my finger as I snaked through the crowd to pay to get into the doors. Once in was the next bit of our obstacle course: finding his teacher and fellow teammates. With what seemed like millions of children running around and teachers with clipboards yelling out instructions, we made our way to where we thought his team was. We finally found his teacher, only to find out that he had been replaced because we were so late. "Do you know what the parking lot is like right now?!?" I asked increduously. She just shrugged, which was becoming the response of the night.

Instead of staying to watch his team, Kody wanted to leave because he was super disappointed... and we had a trek ahead of us back to the car. Once outside, we avoided any conversation about what just happened and listened to Nik's babbling on the way back to the car. We drove home and I have never been more relieved for something to be over.

The whole experience made me think that when I become a parent, I will know that I am prepared for the worst of the worst. But it also made me appreciate what parents do everyday, especially single-parent households. I guess there is a reason why it takes two people to conceive a child. So while I felt privledged to be an "auntie" in true form, I'm glad that I only do that once in a while. Growing up is all about learning and going to hell and back must be part of that.