12:50 pmAll Skate… Break a Leg!
Yesterday I got an email from my BFF, Diana, telling me that it was “$2 Tuesday” up at Classic Skating. So yesterday afternoon the kids and I headed up to Salt Lake to do some roller skating with our sweet friends. Having hung out at “StarLand” skating rink in Hagerstown, MD. for years as a kid, I was excited to show my kids my mad skillz on skates. Little did I know that roller skating is NOT like riding a bicycle, in that if you forget how to skate, the knowledge doesn’t necessarily come flooding back just because you lace on a pair of skates 20 years later. I laced ‘em up, stood up, and almost took out the picnic table (which, thankfully, turned out to be bolted to the floor) and the Skee Ball machine (which, thankfully, turned out to weigh just a tad more than my flailing body).
I rented the kids some fluorescent skates at the rental counter. Zoe got a nice pair of flame orange skates and practiced going around in circles on the carpet. She did pretty alright, and looked super cute trying.
Jachin took one look at his four-wheeled nerdy skates and said, “What. Are. These?”
“What?” I asked. “They’re skates.”
“I am not wearing these things. I want roller blades… like Byron has.”
“Well, Byron has skated on roller blades before. You’ve never skated.”
“Mom, come on. I can do it.”
“Whatever…”
I checked my wallet for our current health insurance card (just in case…) and swapped the skates. He put on the roller blades and took off, never looking back. And while he did fall several times, he got back up immediately and kept on keepin’ on. He was a maniac… (reminiscent of him on skis last week…) After an hour or so, he discovered that there was a ramp on the skate track on the other side of the building.
“Mom,” he said, “there’s a ramp over there. I’m going to go jump it.”
“Huh? Whaaa…?” I put the phone number from the insurance card into the speed dial on my cell phone, and then booked it over to the ramp with my camera in hand… to film either his first sweet jump, or his first broken bone. Either way, it was worth capturing.
His first try was okay, but he was lacking speed. He got half way up the ramp and then started rolling backwards back down the ramp… He decided to try it again, with a little more speed:
No broken bones, no drama. Just a kid who will try just about anything. And he doesn’t give up easily when it’s something that he really wants. There are a lot of “$2 Tuesday”s left in the year. He’ll get it sooner or later.
Now roller blades are on his birthday wish list, along with the usual list of video games. I kept the insurance number on speed dial, just in case. But honestly it’s more for me than the kids. Because the kids aren’t the ones who almost took out half of the tables and arcade games while just trying to stand up…
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I LOOOOOVE ROLLERSKATING! I have got to get the schedule for our rink…
You’re a much nicer mom than I; I make my kids go old school with the 4-wheeled skates.
Comment by stephanie — March 12, 2008 @ 8:19 pm
This was such glorious FUN!! I thank you for your generosity in sharing a delightful happening.
Comment by John-Michael — March 13, 2008 @ 3:36 am
Looks like fun! It also looks like a safer place than Starland!
Comment by Sam — March 13, 2008 @ 10:47 am
Oh! Roller skating. I LOVED to roller skate back in the day. I was AWESOME. What a superfun day! You’re the best mom ever!
Comment by Leslie — March 14, 2008 @ 4:28 pm