Let's play some FOOTBALL

Remington #40 in the middle

I wish I could have been there when all these anxious 4th grade boys gathered together at City Hall to meet their coaches and collect their equipment for the season. Since physicals were required...I decided I better let Eloy take Rem since that's kind of the dad's place and all. So the girls and I stayed home and waited for their return.

About an hour later, I heard the diesel pickup pull into the drive way and then Remington came bursting through the door as proud as any future football player would be. Of course he was donning his new helmet and football pads... and I couldn't help but smile and at the same time wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. I'm thinking (quietly to myself of course) "He's my baby boy...he can't really be old enough for this yet?" Then I watched some more as he strutted around the kitchen, flexing his muscles and trying to act all tough. It was quite the moment...but what happened next really put a grin on my face and lots of laughter in the house. Ember marched right up to Rem and with that "Oh yeah...I can take you on" attitude look gave Rem a little forward nudge and to our surprise Remington tipped over and landed on his back like a helpless turtle unable to figure out for the first time how you're supposed to stand up or move for that matter with all the extra gear on. It was hilarious!
Then Eloy proceeded to tell me the details of the evening. I asked who all were there and he said it was about the normal crowd of parents and kids (the same typical boys who show up to the baseball diamond in the spring.) Then he laughed and said that it was quite entertaining. They took each kid and weighed them and outfitted them with their equipment. The ones who still needed physicals were taken to a separate room. They even had to pass and eye exam. He started laughing as he related how he was watching one scrawny little boy who was taking the eye exam. First the doctor asked...."Do you wear glasses?" The kid responded, "Yes." His mother laughed and said; "No you don't." Then, while looking at the biggest letters on the chart the kid was squinting saying he couldn't see them. Eloy said his mother looked like she was about to faint. I'm sure the doctor was a little concerned at whether the child was pretending or the mother was clueless as to how blind her child was. Eloy couldn't stop laughing at all the chaos. Then when it was Rem's turn for his physical, they had him bend over to check his backbone. Thank goodness Eloy was there because he could tell that Remington didn't have both his feet together and and was bending one of his legs so when the doctor felt his back he became concerned and wanted Rem to go in a different room so they could remove his shirt and have a better look. Eloy laughed saying it was so obvious that he wasn't standing straight and he couldn't believe the doctor didn't check to make sure that was the case before examining his back or else Rem might have been banned from playing due to the wrong assumption that he had scoliosis. Whew! We are grateful that wasn't the case!

Well, Rem passed the test, so the game can go on. I was really hoping that he could avoid being one of the linemen but because of his size (he's pretty tall and lean at 88lbs and one of the bigger ones on his team) so that is exactly what he is doing. I was kind of hoping that he could avoid that position..but Rem likes to be on the front line and he likes to tackle so I figure. . . might as well
Go get 'em!

In the Huddle