Pekka Rinne signing jerseys at Lil’ Preds Hockey School 2013
We’ve been non-stop with hockey since we moved to Nashville. Our boy got bit by the hockey bug during the 2013-1014 NHL season and we knew when we moved we would need to get him plugged in with some social outlets so we could make some friends quick. When he insisted that he wanted to play we thought he would take a few tumbles on the ice and decide that it was not his thing. I mean, this is the kid who changes the channel when the X-games comes on the TV because what they’re doing “doesn’t look like a good idea”. He is his mother’s child. Reasonable. Responsible. Rational. Careful. Hockey is none of those. But he got out there and did his thing. And he fell….a lot. And he’s loved every second of being on the ice.
He’s attended skate academy, G.O.A.L., private lessons with Mrs. Ginger (our Ottawa native, former Tampa Bay Lightging training, current Nashville Predators training Hero), and, coming in July, Lil’ Preds Hockey School. And he’s gone from barely remaining upright on the ice to skating backwards, doing crossovers, swizzling, and skating on one leg in only 3 months! There’s still a fair amount of falling. But my boy has amazed me out there! This time last year he was just finishing up some pretty intense occupational therapy with his brother for their Sensory Processing Disorder. I’ve never talked about it here before because it’s rather lengthy (another post, maybe). But our boy has pretty much overcome every obstacle thrown his way and he’s started seeking out new challenges. Hockey, as you can imagine, is an all-you-can-eat buffet when it comes to the “sensory diet” and he’s out there like a boss every time. No tears. No fears. Just work. Work that he loves. I’m so very proud of him and his little brother. He has stepped out of a lot of comfort zones lately and he’s owning it.
The boy is just all things hockey lately. He has a goal in his room, hockey legos, and he wants to vacation in Ottawa. When your child wants to visit Ottawa for family vacation you know you are a hockey family. My living room is littered with hockey sticks, practice balls, and a various assortment of hockey pads, guards, and such. But it’s ok. I love it.
I don’t love the price. Hockey is EXPENSIVE!! I’m used to the 60 bucks at sign-ups for t-ball and the cost of fairly minimal uniform/equipment. I am definitely going to have to buckle down, get to the craft room, and come up with something for the Etsy shop. Or start pan-handling in downtown.
One thing I’ve learned. Want to see a hockey parent lose his/her mind? So, you take your child to the bathroom BEFORE putting on any gear. Get to the locker room and spend the next 30 minutes putting on hockey pants, suspenders, garter belt, shin guards, hockey socks, shin tape, skates, elbow pads, chest pads, jersey, helmet, and gloves only to have them tell you 2.5 seconds after getting it all on that they have to pee. Again. You thought the scariest part of hockey was the goon bashing the other guy’s face into the wall? Nope. It’s the mama in the pee-equipment-pee scenario.
The post Hockey School appeared first on Blessed Little Thistle.