Tonight as I drove up the turnpike jamming to some righteous tunes (channeling Wayne and Garth here), I had an epiphany as I listened to some George Harrison.  Particularly I was listening to “Got My Mind Set On You.”  This track was initially released by James Ray and written by Rudy Clark.  Interestingly, this is one of the few covers Harrison did during his solo career.  The track was produced by fellow Wilbury Jeff Lynne and Harrsion.

While I’m sure you’re fascinated with the musical history that really wasn’t the epiphany I had while driving.  Rather as I listened intently to the lyrics, I became convinced the song writer wrote the song with travel hockey parents in mind.  Obviously, Rudy ClarK was insanely ahead of his time seeing as how the song was written in 1952.

I realize this is quite the risky conjecture, but stick with me here.  Consider the following lyrics:
“But it’s gonna take money
A whole lot of spending money
It’s gonna take plenty of money
To do it right child”
As you may recall from my blog post $15 Billion,   it takes a whole lot of money to fund a youth athlete these days.  Clark clearly envisioned this when writing the above noting that it will take plenty of money to do it right.

The next stanza continues to articulate the hockey mom life:
“It’s gonna take time
A whole lot of precious time
It’s gonna take patience and time, um
To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it
To do it right child”
Rudy Clark was obviously a clairvoyant song writer that saw the future of youth sports.   Specifically, he clearly saw that it  would be all consuming.  It would consume all of the parents’ time, money and patience.  I know, I know.  It is mind blowing!

To be honest, in honor of Facebook’s latest acquisition, I’ve never heard the version from 1962.  Moreover,  I really don’t need to.  I love what Harrison and Lynne did with the track and its quintessential 80’s sound.  Without reservation, it is absolute perfection.  You’ll find the perfectly 80’s music video below.

You know what isn’t absolute perfection?  Coming home from work to a laundry room flooded with laundry detergent.  Awesome, right?  The floor, usually white, is completely covered in blue, clean smelling liquid detergent.  It took a minute for the reality to sink in as I tried to figure out how this could possibly happen.  Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised since I live in a house of all boys, but even they can surprise you.   Who would have thought I’d come home to a Defcon 5 laundry detergent flood?  There is an upside to this insanity.  Yep, it is true.   My laundry room actually does not smell like hockey for the first time since early August, .   As a hint to all boys out there, these are not the types of surprises your mothers enjoy.   We like roses, chocolates, coffee, nice clothes or maybe a new handbag.