The post in which I bore you completely to death.

Kamryn started Power Skating lessons last week. While Sam is the natural athlete Kamryn needs a little more encouragement in that area (most literally; she's a fine athlete but she lacks confidence and tends to hover on the outskirts rather than getting in there with her elbows up!) - thus the lessons. So I dressed her in her gear and sent her out on the ice and then really looked at her. Her shorts (PANTS! Daniel would yell but they look like shorts to me) were WAY to short. Quite a safety hazard because that exposes her unprotected thigh to all manner of injuries. So the goal this weekend was to find her a new pair of hockey "shorts." They are EXPENSIVE. Prices start around $40.00 which isn't bad but you get what you pay for, regardless they quickly balloon to $80 + with the average price being in the $100 range. Ouch.

She hadn't grown that much (her legs though are just stretching out) and everything else seemed to fit just fine. I mused though that me may have to replace everything come January but at least then we could take advantage of sales. The pants couldn't wait and we headed for our local Play it Again Sports to look for some used equipment. The store was gone! Doh! I remember seeing a sign on a new strip mall going up down the road that they would be moving there but that mall wasn't finished yet. There was another store clear across town so we headed there but thought that we would pop into Canuck Tire on the way so that Daniel could see the $40 pair. Once there it occured to us that we could get her a COMPLETE new set of equipment for $130.00 if we bought a kit. It would mean Sam could wear her old equipment (which would fix his need for new hockey gloves) and there would be no need for new equipment for Kamryn come January. Yay team! We spent a little more than we intended but in the end I think we'll come out ahead. So what to do with Sam's practically brand new equipment? Hmmmm.... I posted on online ad to sell it and kicked myself that I didn't look online for pants for Kamryn. In order to price the equipment I did a little online survey and didn't find even one comparable product - I felt less bad for not attempting to be thrifty. What does everyone do with their old equipment?

This morning there was a bidding war via e-mail for the equipment I posted. Totally easy sale. Again I was stunned. There are thousands of little ones who played hockey last year and will need new equipment. What do their parents do with the old equipment? I guess they could be passing it on but everyone? I must be missing something.