You May Be Right
I may be crazy. You may be wrong for all I know but you may be right. Those words sang long ago by Billy Joel popped into my mind last night and I haven’t been able to get the tune out of my head since.
Last night at training for the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department a child-free friend of ours asked where Mike was. I explained Mike was in town with the kids helping coach hockey. I went on to say we had been in Duluth for hockey last weekend, Mike had practice this week Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and then we had a tournament coming up this Saturday and Sunday in Silver Bay.
That’s when our friend decided we were indeed crazy. Crazy for driving 56 miles to Grand Marais three days during the school week for hockey practice and for traveling 2 and 3 hours one way on the weekends for games. It does sound a bit crazy if you don’t have kids and maybe even if you do have kids.
The kids are only kids for such a short period of time. The time they can play competitive sports is very limited. I know I miss playing sports and I had every opportunity to do so when I was in school. The options for school sports in Cook County are quite limited; school sanctioned winter sports for girls and boys is limited to basketball. There is cross-country skiing and downhill skiing to participate in and then there’s hockey in Silver Bay.
Abby is practicing in Cook County with Josh’s team this year because she is too old to play on his team. She didn’t want to travel 2 hours to Silver Bay each way, each day to play on the Girls 12 and Under team which is who she would play with. We’re not sure what she’ll do next year and even though Josh says he wants to play pro hockey who really knows what next year will bring.
Josh is 8 years old and in 10 years he’ll be leaving for college. In 8 years he’ll have his Driver’s License and will be able to drive himself to hockey if he wants to. If we don’t take him to hockey now then he won’t have the option to play 8 years from now. Hockey is a competitive sport and just like many other things if you don’t start young then you won’t start at all.
Introducing our kids to a variety of sports, activities, music, literature, cultures, etc. is a committment we made when we decided to have children. We may not have totally understood the ramifications of having children before we gave birth and became parents. I don’t think anyone who doesn’t have children can fully understand the sacrifices made when you have children. It isn’t that you resent it but that you feel compelled to provide them with the best experiences and tools you can so they can succeed in life.
Like all parents I want what is best for my kids. Right now I believe hockey is best for both of them. Being a part of an athletic team teaches the kids so much about life that I can’t see not letting them play if they really want to.
When Mike and I decided to have kids we said we wouldn’t punish them because of where we chose to live. We love living at the end of the Trail and so do our kids. When given the choice to stay in town or go home they always pick home. It means they don’t get to bed until almost 9pm and they still have to get up at 6am for the bus.
On days when they practice I only see them for a half of an hour in the morning and about the same in the evening. I miss spending time with them but I spend tons of time with them the rest of the year. When it’s hockey time Mike picks them up after school at 3pm, helps them with homework and feeds them from 3-5pm, heads over to practice around 5pm, has practice from 5:30-6:30pm and then they get their gear off, grab a snack and make the hour long journey home. That’s 5 hours Mike gets to spend with them Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during hockey season. Is that crazy? I think it’s lucky.
My brother-in-law and his wife are having their first baby in May. They are currently on a Babymoon. I had never heard of that until yesterday. It’s like a honeymoon, a vacation you take after you get married but it’s a vacation you take after you get pregnant. The last vacation being a child-free or child-less person.(Child-less implies you are lacking something while child-free is a more positive term.)
The funny thing is first time parents have no clue what they are getting into. They have no way to know how important that child will be to them. Just as a person who has never had a child. How can they know what it’s like to think of someone else before themselves not just sometimes but all of the time? He may be right, we may be crazy but if this is what crazy is then I guess I’m certifiably insane and loving it.
Billly Joel, You May Be Right
Friday night I crashed your party
Saturday I said I’m sorry
Sunday came and trashed it out again
I was only having fun
Wasn’t hurting anyone
And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change
I’ve been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive
But I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I’m insane
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just might be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
Remember how I found you there
Alone in your electric chair
I told you dirty jokes until you smiled
You were lonely for a man
I said take me as I am
‘Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while
Now think of all the years you tried to
Find someone to satisfy you
I might be as crazy as you say
If I’m crazy then it’s true
That it’s all because of you
And you wouldn’t want me any other way
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
It’s too late to fight
It’s too late to change me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for
Turn out the light
Don’t try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
You may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right (x6, fades away)