Growing Up Too Fast: Life in a Billet Family
"Unless you’ve lived it, it’s hard to explain what it’s like to send your child away so young for their sport. This is our story — maybe it’s yours too."
When I tell people my son hasn’t lived at home since he was 14, I usually get the same reaction — wide eyes, a little shock, and sometimes even a comment like, “I could never do that. Why would you?”
And honestly? Those comments sting. Because unless you’ve lived it, you don’t really know what this life is like.
The Billet Life
To play AAA hockey, my son had to move away and live with a billet family. By the time he was playing juniors, he was the youngest on his team -still a boy in many ways, living and competing alongside 19- and 20-year-olds.
People hear that and think, wow, what an opportunity! And yes, it is. But it’s also a huge sacrifice - for him, and for me.
Growing Up Too Fast
At an age when most kids are hanging out after school, going to dances, or just being “normal teenagers,” my son was living in someone else’s home, following someone else’s rules, and carrying himself like an adult.
Like so many boys in this situation, he had to learn how to fend for himself:
Cooking for himself when a billet parent wasn’t around.
Doing his own laundry.
Driving himself to practices and games.
Balancing schoolwork on top of an exhausting hockey schedule.
He learned independence and responsibility earlier than most — but as his mom, my heart ached for the childhood he never really got to have.
The Pressure Cooker
And then there’s the pressure. These kids aren’t just playing games; they’re being scouted, recruited, and pulled in different directions by teams across the country. Promises are made. Offers are dangled. Parents bring in agents to be the middle man, but at the end of the day, it’s still teenagers making life-changing decisions.
It’s an incredible opportunity — but also a heavy weight to carry at such a young age.
What You Don’t See
There were plenty of nights I wanted to break down and cry for him. And he had his own breakdowns, too. The pressure, the expectations, the constant demand to perform - it wore him down.
He may look tough on the outside, but on the inside, he was still just a kid. I remember phone calls where he was exhausted, overwhelmed, and questioning if it was even worth it. All I wanted to do was bring him home, give him back a “normal” teenage life.
But this was his dream. And as his mom, I had to learn how to support him -even when my heart was breaking.
For the Moms and Dads Like Me
It’s easy for people to say, “I’d never let my child move away so young.” But what they don’t see are the tears, the late-night phone calls, and the way our kids grow stronger through it all.
They don’t see the sacrifices. They don’t see the courage it takes for a 15-year-old to live with strangers and still show up on the ice every day.
If your child has ever had to leave home for their sport, I just want you to know — I see you. It’s not about being a “good” or “bad” parent. It’s about loving your kid enough to support the dream they’re chasing, even when it costs you both something.
💬 Moms, dads — has anyone ever judged you for the choices you’ve made to support your child’s sport? How did you handle it?
— Alison