We have been a hockey family for about 9 years now. Our son has been a goalie for 4-5 of those years. After much thought and a little bit of heartache, we have decided to pull our son out of hockey.

He has been a great goalie for many years. He's won lots of games, secured some shutouts, and been well thought of by his team mates and coaches. There were always down moments where he let his ability slip, but he usually picked it back up the next week. Recently, those moments have been too far apart.

Before you rail me for anything, let me just say that my mind isn't on the winning. It's not on the performance of the players either. They play hard. But, when the ability starts to effect the friendships and the self-esteem, then you have to consider whether or not you have them in a good situation. When we started to see his skills hit a wall we waited to see if this was something that he could push past. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't. And we began to see the effects it had on the other kids of the team as well. They were loosing miserably...And not just by a point or two. He seemed to think the kids began ignoring him. Even the coaches didn't say anything to him. Although he loves to play, it hurt us too much to see him upset every weekend.

So, we gave our notice. We have tried to really talk with our son about the opportunities he will have, now that there is more time (and money) to devote to something else. He has talked about doing tennis and golf, as well as taking a drama class. He and his sister will both be in a play this spring that is being put on by our homeschool group.

One night he came downstairs and asked to talk to me. He told me that he was really confused about how he was feeling at the moment. "Part of me, the part way deep down, is really sad about this, because I really love playing hockey. But, there is another part of me that is sorta happy. I don't understand how I can be feeling both things at the same time!" Ugh. I told him that is how a loss can feel. Part of us is grieving about what we have loved and lost, yet there is another part that is happily anticipating a new beginning. It probably won't go away completely, but it will get better.

So. As a parent, you never know if your decision will be the right one for your child. We weighed this one out very carefully and over a long period of time. But even so, you can hope (as we do) and you can pray (as we do) and when all is said and done, we hope he can look back on this time with good memories, but also with the ability to see what opportunities opened up to him because of it. And that we love him.

If you've ever been in the same boat, drop me a line in the comments. I would love to hear how things have worked out for you. And if you have any words of wisdom for my son, I'll pass them on.

And to all the WTM ladies who helped on this one a while back....thanks.