It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

It’s that glorious time of year again.  The time of year when warm weather begins, flowers bloom, birds chirp, baseball is in full swing and blood is shed.  Yes ladies and gentleman, it is time for playoff hockey.  

Few things in life can match up with the intensity of hockey this time of year.  Hockey in general is an intense sport, the fast skating, the hard hits and unbelievable goals.  Add that all up and throw in the fact that teams are playing for the ultimate glory of hoisting Lord Stanley's cup and you have weeks filled with heart stomping, jaw dropping and enemy making angst.  “I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out” was a stupid joke many of us heard growing up and I used to think it made sense, after all, hockey was all about the fights.  I now know that is nonsense. 

The only thing I knew about hockey growing up was that the Devils were pretty good and we were forced to play it in gym class.  To me, it was little more grown men on ice-skates looking for someone to pummel.  Once I moved to Philly and moved in with my now husband, hockey became a staple on our television rotation.  Little by little, I got pulled into the beauty of the sport.  I learned that it wasn’t just a bunch of oversized children who couldn’t make it in any other sport and just wanted to let out their frustration.  I learned that true hockey players master the art of playing at a very young age.  They surround themselves and their families with all things hockey and it becomes a way of life.  Hockey takes immense skill and talent and nowhere are these attributes more visible than during the playoffs.  The playoffs require players to be at their greatest and require fans to be at their most patient. 

Playoff hockey is the most captivating, exhilarating, and intense experience anyone can have.  From the first face-off to that final buzzer, you are surrounded by pure power and you start to feel your heart race.  You can’t count a team out until the last second, and even then you never know what can happen.  Picture this, a few years ago the Boston Bruins were singing victory and celebrating in the streets when they went up 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs.  Four games later, it was the Flyers fans that were celebrating as their team turned it around winning 4 straight games to win to eastern conference semifinal and ultimately taking them to the Stanley Cup finals.  If a football team is down by 3-4 touchdowns in the last quarter, you can pretty much turn off the game, they aren’t coming back.  Baseball closers are there to ensure that their teams keep the lead and make it difficult for the other team to come back from a deficit. Hockey however is an entirely different story.  Teams get hot and players are at their best when the clock winds down.  The last 20 minutes of playoff hockey are the craziest 20 minutes in sports.  Each team that is in the playoffs is there because they deserve to be, they played their heart out and aren’t about to go home without a fight. 

If you don’t believe me, go to a game.  Sit in the stands with 20,000 fans screaming and chanting the same thing.  Surround yourself with the most passionate fans in American sports and you will see for yourself that hockey is, by all intents and purposes, made for the playoffs. 

Sanity

Clearly people have been parenting for centuries; I just don’t know how parents did it before all these awesome baby products came along. Sure, things like car seats and strollers keep children safe, but I’m talking about the products you really can’t live without. The ones that make parenting much easier! Here we go:

Exersaucers and jumpers: a must have for all parents and children. It helps babies develop their fine and gross motor skills while visually stimulating them. But the real perk is that it offers endless entertainment to your baby so you can get things done! Whether it’s cleaning, doing laundry or catching up on your DVR, just place your baby in a jumper and he/she is occupied while you do what you have to do.

The Bumbo: if you are a parent or soon to be parent and don’t have a Bumbo, get one. It is perfect to carry with you as oppose to high chairs or other big bulky seats. Babies sit upright in a Bumbo and it has a tray which is perfect for feedings or for toys. If you travel a lot with your kids and they are too little for a high chair then bring the Bumbo, it is much easier to transport!

Video monitor: I am a paranoid mess with both of my children. I have to constantly make sure they are still breathing and ok in their cribs. Luckily for me, we have a video monitor so instead of walking into the baby’s room and risking him/her waking up, I am able to watch them for hours to make sure they are still alive! (I really hope I’m not the only person who does this!!)

Mommy hook: a very practical hook that goes onto the stroller so you can have the diaper bag completely accessible at all times. If you put the diaper bag or your purse in the stroller basket, it might be difficult to get to sometimes, especially if you are out and continuously putting other bags on top. The Mommy Hook avoids this by keeping your bag out and hanging on the stroller.

And finally, drum roll please. The greatest and I do mean GREATEST invention ever for children…the Portable DVD player: aahh, the saving grace. The only way I could grasp sanity on long car rides. I remember when my brother first got his kids a portable DVD player for the car. I was in my mid 20’s and so naïve. I asked, “why the hell are you getting them a DVD player? They don’t need one,” and his very wise and very patient response was, “it’s not for them, it’s for me”. I remember thinking he was an idiot and not understanding why he couldn’t just entertain his children in the car while they went on a trip. Then I had Mikey. From the moment his little butt touched his car seat, he would let out continuous howls and let you know that he was not at all pleased about being there. One time I was driving on the New Jersey Turnpike in the pouring rain and Mikey cried the entire time. It was a 2 hour drive and he screamed all but the last 20 minutes. The minute he got into a forward facing car seat, we got him a portable DVD player. Thanks to this device and hours of The Wiggles, travelling with my son wasn’t a death sentence. Today he is much better, but I would have never survived the second year of driving with him had it not been for the DVD player.

There you have it. The baby products (and not so baby products) that have made parenting a lot easier in the Smith household.

Things my mother says...

Things my mother told me…

Maria del Carmen Consuelo Martinez Daporta, otherwise known as my mother, is a very wise woman.  Of course I didn’t realize that until a few years ago.  Once I became a wife and mother I realized how brilliant and how right my mother is.  Through her years she has taught me several rules and guidelines to follow in life.   I try to follow them for the most part and plan to pass them on to my children when they grow up.  Here are a few of her teachings:

Sarna con gusto no pica—I know it’s in Spanish but it sounds better.  It literally means “scabies with pleasure doesn’t itch”.  She would say this whenever a person would intentionally do something, even knowing that that action would hurt them.   So let’s say you have a friend who always gets back with the same guy even though she knows he is just going to hurt her.  It’s hard to feel bad for someone who has a skin infection but is getting extreme pleasure out of it isn’t it?  Well the same rule applies here.  If you are stupid enough to keep doing the same thing over and over again, or staying in the same situation with the same outcome, then you don’t deserve pity.  Instead, learn from your mistakes and move on.  I plan on teaching Mikey and Lola this valuable life lesson.

When you have nice legs, skirts are always better—she had some nice legs in her day.  She was never afraid to show them off and always encouraged me to do the same, in a classy way of course. This lesson can be made broader.  My mother felt that her legs were her best features, so she flaunted them, but you can do that with whatever you think is your best quality.  If you think you have great eyes, then learn how to put the proper make up on that will make them jump out at people.  If you are good with words, then find every possible situation to display that.  I hope that my children are confident enough to learn what they are best at and run with it.

Say what you mean to say and mean what you are saying—my mother is a very vocal person.  She knows how to keep the peace and I have never seen her be rude to anyone, but she knows how important it is to express yourself and how damaging it can be to hold onto your feelings.  Only two of her children follow that rule, the other two follow my father’s example of seeing just how long a person can hold onto emotions before exploding.  She always told me, if someone does something that bothers you or makes you incredibly happy, let them know.  Only children play the silent game and being passive aggressive only hurts you.  Thanks to her (or damn her if you’re my husband) I always express my feelings and let people know what I am thinking.  Being free to express yourself in a respectful manner feels great.  There is definitely something liberating about it.  

And finally, if you don’t make him happy, someone else will—yup, she meant this one to be about sex.  You have to realize my mother was raised in a country where women were supposed to serve the men and children in their lives, and that was it.  So yes, she believes that if you don’t make him happy, it is only a matter of time until he finds someone who will. But this valuable tip doesn't have to be one way or limited to sex.  In other words, if you know something truly makes your partner happy, you should want to do that for him.  Take a lesson from The Break Up…it’s not about wanting to do the dishes, it’s about doing them because you know it makes the other person happy.  So yes, give happiness to your partner before he/she finds someone else who will give it to them.