Skating on the canal, take two

After the last tear-filled attempt at teaching Reid to skate, I didn’t expect to go again this winter. In our cat’s calendar, though, there is a little cat in mid-fall and Reid always comments that the one who is falling should be holding onto the mama’s hand (truth be told, the mama cat isn’t looking too stable but I don’t mention that to Reid or that I think that would be me, too). She seemed positively inclined toward skating and so I asked her this morning if she wanted to go and she responded with an enthusiastic “yes”. She brought up skating several times throughout the morning, talking about the colour of her skates, that we had gone with Aunt Karin and Grandma Joyce, etc. This afternoon, after our nap, we went in search of a plastic chair for Reid to push around. We tried the Dollar Store and Canadian Tire without luck and then headed downtown. It’s a trek from the parking garage to the Rideau Canal, at least while carrying or motivating a two-year-old by turns. We claimed a piece of the snow bank and put Reid’s skates on. I kept my boots on for stability. At first, Reid wanted me to hold only one of her hands but she quickly changed her mind when she realized how “slippery” it was with skates on. We made it only a short distance before the being-out-of-control feeling seemed to be bothering her too much. I pulled and pushed a bit and hit upon the idea of renting a sleigh so that Reid could push it but was foiled by their insistence on a Visa card for the deposit. “Life takes Visa“, indeed. I had Reid raise her arms and I sort of steered her down the canal on the way to get a hot chocolate, with many prompts to keep her skates pointed forward, to keep as much of the blade on the ice as possible, etc. We managed to get to a picnic table to take Reid’s skates off and then ligned up for a treat. I am guessing the skates were on her feet for a maximum of 20 minutes. Having no experience with teaching other kids to skate and no memory of learning myself, I don’t know if that is a normal start or not. When we got home, Reid proudly told Ken that she had been skating and it seems the sort of thing we can do again. I will try to find a plastic chair for her to push and will take my own skates and a Visa card another time. That way, when she is tired of skating, I can put Reid and the chair in a sleigh and go for a bit of a skate myself. I need the practice and I think Reid will enjoy the sensation of gliding. Anyone who wants to volunteer to help teach Reid to skate should come on over to Ottawa. I think that the weather will hold for the week and the canal will stay open as long as it does.

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