First Time on the Ice

Unlike most folks in this area (aka hockey country), we didn't get our kids on ice skates as soon as they could stand. But we did finally at least get them to a rink last weekend. Close, huh?

We headed to a nearby park, bundled up and laced up. And oh, was it fun! (And funny for any spectators.) Jason and I are a piece of work on the ice. He warms up a bit faster than me, but I fall less. The poor kids are forced to learn on their own, as we wobble nearby. Cuz the only thing worse than a wobbly kid on the ice is a, well, wobbly kid on the ice holding hands with an even wobblier parent. I refuse to flatten my kids.

We used lots of verbal encouragement and entertained them with a few wild moves of our own. Natalie hung mostly out near the rail and took it at her own pace. Poor Gavin had quite the go of hockey rocker blades, crashing to the ice every time he leaned a little too far forward. I kid you not when I say he fell about 25 times in the 30 minutes we spent at the rink. But he learned to stand up really fast on his own. I boasted to him how big of a deal that is (ever crawled to the rail to stand up?) and that he should be proud. He wasn't that impressed.

We're going to try again today, this time with warmer socks for their toes and folding chairs to push along for support.

It should be entertaining!