If you’re Canadian and you have young kids, chances are you’re sitting in a cold arena right now, watching your five-, 10- or 16-year-old get their hockey on.

“I love the smell of an arena,” my then five-year-old daughter said to me as we walked in for her older brother’s game, and I knew we’d be in for the long haul. Over a decade later, she’s still out there, and we’ve picked up a few hockey hacks along the way.

1. Be realistic. As I pointed out in my book I Am So the Boss of You, we rarely apply basic business principles to running our home and family, and this can lead to a shortage of resources and deficit spending. Make sure to look at your family calendar before committing to two or three practices and/or games a week. Find out what the league charges and what equipment will run you. Tournaments? Out of town? A whole new budgeting process.

2. Skin in the game. Not literally, as the kids are wearing enough equipment to keep them safe. But, make the kids responsible for their equipment: keeping track of it and keeping it in top shape. If they’re a bit young for this (under 10, for instance) make sure they see you checking it over and help with inventory. And make sure they understand the things your family is giving up (a social life, for one) in order for them to play hockey so they understand it’s a privilege, not a right.

3. Don’t be that parent. You know, the proverbial hockey mom or hockey dad. Cheer your child on, of course, but please leave the cowbell at home (are your kids cows? You hurt my ears.) and park the foul language and derisive comments about the other team. You can think whatever you want, but come on, it’s a hockey game for kids. Don’t lose the sense of fun in the spirit of adult competitiveness. Imagine your mom is sitting with the opposing team.

4. Be the coach or don’t be the coach. Coaching positions are volunteer positions. Don’t make your child’s coach regret signing up to help the kids out. They might not run the drills the way you would or have the team in rotation the way you would … so maybe you should volunteer to coach next year so you can do it your way.

5. Sharing is caring. Carpool, carpool, carpool. Especially for practices. You don’t have to be there.

6. McDavid vs. McDonald’s. The number one reason you have your kids in hockey is to have fun. The goal is not to raise the next Connor McDavid. The goal is to get fit, learn teamwork and have fun. They most likely won’t go pro, and they will likely get their first job at McDonald’s instead. They don’t have to be a bum or a hero; they just want to play hockey.

Kathy Buckworth is the author of I Am So the Boss of You: An 8-Step Guide to Giving Your Family the ‘Business.’ She had three of her children in hockey. She may have convinced one of them to quit and take up fencing instead.