Skipping Practice

So I skipped practice on Monday.

I know what you’re thinking and let me stop you before you go on, I’ve got my reasons.

My first reason, lame as it may be, is that I was simply tired.  I’d done daddy day care duty all weekend while my wife enjoyed the high-caliber derby of the 2012 WFTDA Championships.  And while I do love my children, they are exhausting.

And add to that the fact of the time-change that occurred on Sunday, and I was sunk.  Am I the only one who really doesn’t get why we can’t set the time once and be done with it?  Do they realize what they’re doing to us? I mean, my life dictates that I must rise early in order to stay sane as well as to begin a day that’s gonna be super long; do I need my body waking up yet another hour earlier, making that day that much longer?  Someone out there must know and, after they dispel this wisdom, I’m thinking we ought to pop them one in the nose.

But I digress.

I was tired.  But that wasn’t my only excuse.

Frankly, my other excuse is simple, trite, and pretty bare bones: I missed my wife and wanted to spend some time with her.

Derby’ll do that to you, as I have found out over this past year.

For anyone who is considering entering into the world of roller derby in any way, shape, or fashion, please be forewarned of the toll this sport will take on your time.  You’ll be drawn into practices, sure, but that’s simply the very tip of the iceberg.  Because, you want to get good, right?  You don’t want to be the last skater out there doing your 25 and 5 or, heaven forbid, the last one ever getting a chance to bout.  You want to rock!

Well, better lace up your skates and take advantage of all the opportunities afforded you.  And those opportunities are surely there.

Practices, open skates, and skating various parks and trails; they’re yours for the taking.

But wait, wait!  If you order now, we’ll throw in so, so much more!  Because with the world of derby comes not only an intense workout and the satisfaction (let me know how that part works out, by the way) of conquering a new world and beating the crap out of some people in the name of good, ole’ fashioned fun, but a whole lot more!

So, if you order now, we’ll toss in a whole new community of friends, their spouses, and their kids.  And all the fun that comes with that!

Now, some may read that as snarky but, in all actuality, it’s the great truth of derby.  Derby is more than a sport for many; it becomes a subculture that offers its own community of folks in all their uniqueness.

And because you’re hooked on the sport, have made such good friends, and want to make a difference on your team and in your community, why not help out with the team’s various committees?  Or maybe even join the board? 

Okay, maybe some of that came across as snarky but I just can’t help it; the one thing I’ve wrestled with over the past year is the sheer amount of time that I give up my wife for this sport.  Recently we watched a documentary called Brutal Beauty: Rose City Rollers about a league across the country and this very sentiment was echoed by one of the derby widows (husbands) as he shared that he’d seen many a derby couple either quit the sport entirely or break up unless it became something the two could share together.

And that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.  I’m going all in for my wife, my kids, and my relationship.  While at the outset of this adventure, I dealt with my fair share of frustration, I can't deny the great things that its done for my family.  I love the renewed independence and vigor of my beautiful Coupon Clip-Her and the growing confidence in R2BenchU and Lady Liberty.  Plus, there’s a little something in it for me as well; there’s the challenge of accomplishing something that, to date, is so damn difficult and which promises such fun rewards.

And so, for my family, and for my relationship with my wife, I skipped practice on Monday.  Go ahead, haters gonna hate anyway.  So hate.

But know this: I’ll be back on Thursday.  See you there.