Health care is a basic human right, not a privilege. For some reason, we’ve allowed ourselves as Americans to be fooled into accepting that one must be blessed with “means” to actuate appropriate health care. As a nation we have failed to realize that our health care system is a barometer of our society’s value for human life.

-Me

Saturday, November 03, 2007

It's All About Hockey, Baby!

So we have ventured forward into the alternate reality I'll call hockey from here on out. I'm not certain how familiar ya'll are with this reality, so I'll help you out as best as possible. I've talked about wanting to get Sandis enrolled in hockey before, so the response from the SCYHA that he was approved for a scholarship was awesome indeed. From there we ventured out into hockey, and first step is? Obtain hockey gear. We bought a new pair of skates (new to us anyhow) that fit and acquired all that hockey gear.

All.That.Hockey.Gear. This presented a slight problem. Sandis barely tolerated trying the helmet on, and our hockey situation quickly devolved into a squeaking, screaming, sirening Sandis the longer the helmet stayed affixed upon his head. I devised a plan.....Desensitize the boy to the gear (the helmet, all that velcro, and poking) by foricng him to wear the gear for an hour a night.. We successfully accomplished this by none other than bribery...Video games!



Imagine my surprise when after all that bribery and malcontent on mister Sandis's part, I discover after affixing the mouth guard on the helmet, that herein lies the solution. Sandis sets the mouthguard in his mouth and there goes all the complaints. It is like a chewy tube that forms to the shape of your mouth. Fabulous. The people that created these things were smart buggers indeed.





So this afternoon we ventured out onto the ice. Skating is HARD.













And then, sometimes THEY make it HARDER.





But you know what, after a while things started to come together.











I watched in shock, at times...Is that my boy WAITING IN LINE?





Here is proof of the benefits of inclusion. Sandis is doing what all the other kids are doing. He is just another one of the boys.





There was even a few opportunities for one-one-one coaching.



At the end of the day, Sandis and Hockey, well they were two peas in a pod.

5 comments:

Minnesota Nice said...

Oh Sarah, I was soooooo pleased to see that the hockey is working well for Mr. Sandis. May it continue to be so!!!

Vivian said...

Woo Hoo! Go Sandis Man! I love that the mouth guard made such a difference. You guys rock.

Molly said...

I am a former hockey player. I asked my parents to sign me up for one reason.... the mouthguard. It seemed so cool. When people asked why I wanted to play hockey in a day where few girls were playing, I simply said, "I wanted a mouthguard!"

What great pics! So happy that Sandis did so well and had some fun.

Major Bedhead said...

Oh, those pictures are just too cute. I'm glad to hear he's enjoying it and doing so well with it, too. Funny that all it took was a mouth guard.

Now listen to me v-e-e-e-e-r-y carefully. Wash. The. Hockey. Gear. Please. For the love of god and all that's holy, wash the hockey gear. Otherwise, you're all going to wake up dead from the STENCH off the stuff. Because hockey gear? Gets sweaty. And wet. And sweaty + wet = one unholy STINK.

Take it from me, the Hockey Widow. When TCBIM opens his hockey bag, I almost vomit. If you train Sandis to wash his own hockey gear, some woman will thank you one day. Trust me.

Chris said...

I couldn't stop smiling while reading this post. A total ear to ear smile. I love the pics and i loved how he took the body on the 3 on teh other end of the pilons;)
Perfect!
Hockey is my game. I have it for life. Totally awesome for Sandis!