For Hockey's Sake

Everyday its the same story. Doug wakes up the kids like a drill Sargent barking orders at 6 am for everyone to get up. But the troops are not cooperating. Amanda drags her feet to the bathroom, turns on the shower and just stands there, not even getting wet. The boys argue who should go first which depends on who slept earlier. When Ben finally gets his chance at the mirror, he takes time (I won't tell you how much time!) to make sure every strand of hair is carefully waxed and in place. On a bad hair day, John has been known to wax, wet, wax again his hair several times before he achieves his "look."

When the clock ticks after 7 am, Doug's volume is louder and his pitch higher. He sounds like he wants to evacuate a burning house but it has no effect at all for the turtles. Ben likes to read the sports page. John just remembered that he needs to print out an assignment. Amanda hasn't decided what to eat. In this volatile mix of stress and total indifference, Jonina likes to throw dagger looks to and fro. When she can't keep it in anymore, she spits out a stern, "Boys hurry up!" warning just to make her sentiments known.

After a few threats to leave them all behind, the turtles plod to the car. When the last door is shut and Doug speeds out of the driveway like an ambulance driver, it is not uncommon to hear, "Umm, Dad, do you have any mints? I forgot to brush my teeth."

But tomorrow, Monday, March 1, everything will be different. Those turtles will transform to energizer bunnies! They will wake up at 4 AM, shower, dress, eat and brush their teeth because at exactly 4:30 am, they will go over to our neighbor's house (thanks Andrey and Jen!) and watch the US vs. Canada Hockey game for Olympic Gold!

I couldn't believe it! Doug is not surprised. He said, "They're Canadians! Its in their blood!" Tonight, we skyped them at 8 pm and Ben who is the usual night owl is already asleep. John makes his bold prediction: Canada beats US 3 to 2 and then says good night. I don't even see Amanda's shadow --- all I hear is a hi and good night. The only one I could talk to about my adventures of the day was Jonina. I was excited to tell her that we found a cute nurse for Adrian Ding!

Monday, March 1

In our part of the world, Doug turned on the TV at 4:30 am and was happy to find out that they were covering the US vs. Canada game live! Let me just say it was a high energy, heart stopping, let-me-bash-you-hard-on-the-boards-with-intent-to-maim kind of play! After overtime, our son John's prediction came true: Canada beat the US 3 to 2 to win the gold medal! We can imagine that Andrey's house was the noisiest on the street where we live!

That was quite a game! Really enjoyed it!