So. . .yay! The Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup! I’m so happy for my husband who has watched the Bruins for years and years, waiting for this moment.
And now that it’s all said and done, he is now excitedly waiting for the moment when the Duck Boats line up and take the players through the streets of Boston while throngs of deliriously happy crowds scream, wave and throw confetti. Throngs that will include my family.
As soon as we heard that the parade would be held on Saturday, it was a no-brainer that we would all go. It’d be the kids first “sports champion” parade, and we knew they love it.
Oh, except that when I told the kids we were going, my six-year-old D went to his room, hid under the covers and burst into tears.
He was inconsolable; I was confused. What was this all about? Had I somehow raised a Canucks fan? (impossible, since I had to look up the spelling of “Canucks”). Did he harbor some strange fear of men in skates? I tried to explain that no one would be on skates, no one would hit him with a hockey stick. No go.
It was my husband who reminded me of our son’s hatred of parades. He reminded me of our trip to Disney a few years ago when every parade had our son quaking in his shoes:
they can’t see me, right?
I’ll just hide here behind this protective rack of towels
For the past 48 hours, I’ve tried reasoning with him, but every time the “P” word is mentioned or implied, his head goes under a pillow and the tears fall. It doesn’t matter that there will be no characters in costume, no clowns, no firetrucks blasting sirens, no marching bands. . .He wants nothing to do with it.
Part of me thinks, “Damn, why should I have to miss this too? He’ll get over it. I know it’s not scary or dangerous and this is a (possibly) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Suck it up kid!”
And then I think, “C’mon, you don’t even like hockey! Who cares if you go or not? This can be a Daddy-and-the-girls outing. His life will be just as full without this experience–which he probably won’t remember anyway—and if it is causing him this much stress, just stay home.“
I suppose how you feel about this will greatly depend on how you feel about hockey, but what would you do in this situation? (if it helps, replace “hockey championships” with something that would make you or your spouse super excited and then answer).
And have you ever heard of a parade phobia before?? It’s not even listed in the gigantic list of phobias, so I’m not sure it exists, except in our household.
But, it seems genuine, so tomorrow, my paradaphobic (heh) son and I will bop around town, in our small little parade of two.
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For her first several years my daughter Hated (capital H) fireworks. I kinda like 'em myself. But we stayed indoors every July 4 (and Dec. 31 when in Hawaii, where fireworks seem to be part of the local religion).
It felt good to know that I was keeping her from being sad.
I think going the parade of two route makes complete sense. Poor guy.
It could be the loudness, colors and just (to a child) all out chaos that he hates. Hard to put into words when you're little 🙁
Very tough call! Is there any way you can watch it from inside? Although I can't even imagine how early you'd have to arrive 🙁
If he we're older & would remember it I'd say go as he'll be glad he got to see it, at some point in the future, but still pleased… In this case maybe staying home & watching on TV (well, if you watch TV) might be the way to go.
Also, what about starting with smaller town parades and working up to larger ones?
Good luck!
Ugh! Need to proof before sending!
Maybe he's afraid of those playoff beards? I find them disturbing, too.
I think your decision is the right one.
We're a nutso hockey family and we'll be in Boston too – but man, if that were my boy…I'd be staying home. It's so not worth the stress for him. Good choice 🙂
If it stresses him that badly I'd let him stay home too. Of course if it were a parade for the NYR instead of the Bruins, then all bets would be off… (A girl can dream, right?)
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Good call. Not worth it. I think the idea of a parade/rally always sounds better than it is in reality. I would have done it for the Sox, but that many people (drunk ones) always scares me, especially with the kids. Enjoy your day!! Your little guy will!
Could just be the crowds? And the chaos, and the loudness? Poor D. He did so great on stage, I'd never guess that he would be afraid of being on the sidelines! Maybe if he got to ride on the duck boat…. :-/ Have a good day anyway.
For like three years Benjamin was terrified of windshield wipers.
Windshield. Wipers.
Poor guy. A fear is a fear and even if it sounds irrational, it's his fear. 🙁
Did he have a bad experience? Last year at our Memorial Day parade some jackwagon of a clown squirted water in Benjamin's face and made him cry.
I could've kicked that clown's ass.