Wanted: good skater for summer free skates

June 9, 2008 by Barbara.

Despite the crazy heat and humidity - 31 degrees on June 9th or 41 degrees with the humidex is crazy to me - Reid had her first ice skating lesson of the session Sunday morning. It wasn’t the first lesson of the course but June 1st snuck on me. Months shouldn’t be allowed to start on Sunday. When ice skating wrapped up in March, Reid was disappointed and wanted to take more classes. The rink we’d been at offered 2 classes a week and that was too big a commitment, especially with gymnastics and swimming. The summer session runs through June and July. The classes are once again 25 minutes long and I still have to go out on the ice with Reid.

My arches were starting to feel sore before we even got on the ice, possibly because my skates fit a bit funny without socks on. I didn’t have socks because the mitts that I thought were in the skating bag weren’t there and so I gave Reid my socks. I told her about how her baby mitts that didn’t have thumbs in them. She wasn’t overly concerned or maybe she was just glad to have something to cover her hands. Some of the other kids were wearing snowsuits for the lesson and one had on splash pants and a sweater. Reid had on a pair of heavy long pants and a sweater. I think splash pants might be a good idea but, then again, Reid might sit on the ice when she got tired. Reid was excited to be on the ice for the first 7 minutes at least. During that time Reid demonstrated that she *could* skate unassisted but that she still preferred to hold onto me and also her newly-aquired ability to stand up unassisted. She didn’t push off the one knee as the coach directed but she did go from sitting to standing. The problem was, as far as I can figure, skating requires effort over a long period.  Even at rest Reid has to pay attention to her balance. By the 10 minute mark, Reid was asking to leave. When I said that our turn wasn’t over yet, she sat down. I pointed out that her bum was going to get hold. Reid stood up and skated to the wall. After 20 minutes she was trying out some crocodile tears and asking to leave again. We toughed out the last 5 minutes and I’m pretty sure she enjoyed the game of “What time is it Mister Wolf?” As we took our skates off, Reid said that she didn’t want to come back next week. Well, she said that she *wasn’t* going to go back but I acted like it was a request. I’d like to go to the Touch-a-Truck event first thing next Sunday morning but I’m not sure if skipping the lesson is a good idea. Or maybe it gives us both a break.

The zamboni came out when we were leaving. I took it as a sign that the universe wanted Reid to succeed at her skating lessons or, at the very least, to return. The zamboni is one of Reid’s favourite thing about arenas. She likes the hotdogs at the canteen climbing the bleachers, and the hockey boys when they’re on the ice.  When we walked back into the lobby, my glasses steamed up due to the temperature changed and the mugginess of the day. That’s the kind of difference there was.

When Aunty Amanda and Aunt Jane (Amanda’s mom) joined us at the restaurant, Reid proudly announced that she’d been skating. Aunt Jane asked her if liked it and Reid said, “Yes”. Yes!? Ken asked about it at home and Reid told him that skating was “too tricky”. I think this assessment was a bit closer to the unvarnished truth, according to Reid.

I can’t decide if we should go back to skating lessons over the summer or let it go until the fall. I think the best thing to do would be to hire someone to take Reid for a few free skates. It would have to be someone that Reid wanted to impress, someone who would be positive and not succumb to Reid’s objections to doing what the coach asked, no matter how much her lip wobbles. And, most importantly, the person has to skate easily, with grace and style. You know, the kind of person whose arches don’t start to hurt even before they get to the ice surface. I meet the minimum “adult must have some ability to skate” requirement but only just. I think if Reid could only see an proficient skater and experience fluid skating, she’d be hooked.

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