For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for November 04, 2014

It ain’t easy being a hockey mother. (Soccer mothers have it tough laundering the uniform.)

Oh, brrrrrrrrrrr! Elly, you are going to need a hot honeyed tea for your hands, and a hot water soak for your feet when you get home! ;)

Looks like Elly is the only parent who showed up to support the kids. Everyone else probably stayed home out of the cold weather. But the Elly haters will find some reason to criticize here for this and say she’s a bad parent, as usual…

We played hockey, but weren’t on a team, so when it was my dad’s turn to drive us up to the park, he’d bring his skates and join us. “Old” people were such show-offs back then. (I was told 33 really wasn’t that old.)

And sadly they probably can’t even hear her if they have helmets on.

She needs to jump up & down a bit!!!

Our band director would have us retune our instruments to A-444 Hz instead of A-440 Hz in cold weather to compensate for the flatness effect of the weather.

Brings back memories of mornings at the rink watching my daughter’s figure skating practice.

Brings back memories of skating at the rink early in the morning. Oh, wait, I still do that!!!!!

Lynn’s Notes:

The strips I did on skating and hockey moms always struck a chord. Parents who spend a good part of their time sitting on hard benches in cold arenas while their offspring scramble over the ice should be given their own special place in heaven. It will be warm, have comfortable seating and the coffee will not taste like socks.

This is not an Elly-bash, but is she actually cheering at a practice? Why not save it for a game? (Maybe she’s practicing her cheering…)

Parents who don’t stay to watch their children practice are not bad parents – they just make better of their time than sitting and watching a practice session. Some might go grocery shopping and pick their children on way home. Some might go on errands. Some go home and do things. Some do things with their other children while their siblings are at practice. Parents are not required to sit through the practice sessions unless they are really young. I sat at practice with my boys up until they were around 9 years old. I just dropped the off and went on errands and took them home after. I never missed a game, though. A game was a different story. I do frown at parents who don’t bother going to watch a game unless they couldn’t due to work or something like that.

Oh my God, JanCinLV! what a horrible person you are! If you insist on flaunting the rules laid down by Night-Gaunt, the self-appointed ruler here, we shall have to take action — like CHEERING!

The joke today seems to be of diminishing marginal returns, Elly’s cheering is becoming less and less. Not sure what the Ellyhaters will have to go on today, but they may find something, just like the strip the other week where Mike comments about being magic and the concept of witches, which sparked two things: 1.) John did not say one syllable during that strip, but the John-haters attacked him anyway.2.) Due to Michael’s remarks about being magic and the dance story arc, he was called “Magic Mike”.

I remember freezing in the seats while our grandson played/practiced Hockey. Thank God it only lasted one season. Then his interest in Baskball and Baseball became his main interests. In my book, Elly’s a saint.