Go Union!

Another hockey season is upon us. This is Ella's "3rd" season and last night was Union's home opener (Jason is the assistant coach). She has a brand new Union jersey and we painted U's on her cheeks to celebrate the night. I may be a little biased, but she was the cutest little cheerleader at the rink.

Pre-game....all smiles in Daddy's office.

 You may recall that I have written in the past about Ella's love-hate relationship with hockey games...more specifically the national anthem. She has a history of crying, freaking out actually as soon as the anthem starts. I went into Friday's game with a new attitude....renewed optimism that this season will be different. Ella is an independent toddler. She's walking and starting to talk. She is ready to take on the games!

Another hockey season, same result: TEARS!

HA HA HA...I may have over-estimated things a bit. The meltdown started with the introductions, reached a fever pitch by the national anthem, and by the time the first puck dropped, the U's on her cheeks were partly washed away by tears. The crying (freaking out) lasted pretty much the entire first period. We regrouped in the coach's office and I thought we could redeem ourselves for the second period.....NOPE! More tears, and complete misery ensued. We didn't even make it ten minutes into the second period when I raised the white flag. Less than halfway through game 1 and we were done!

There's another game tonight. Call me crazy, but we are going to try again. Since hockey games will likely be a part of Ella's life for a very long time, I have to TRY to at least get her to cope. Wish me luck!