first time out on the ice

Dear Em,
My friend Julie is the best for knowing where fun activities for kids are. When we were kids, her mom knew all the cool spots, & we'd join her & her family on so many fun adventures. Now, Julie's daughter S is like a big sister to you, & Julie always has fun ideas for where to get you girls together. When Julie mentioned ice skating, alarms went off in my head. I pictured ice blades & hard ice & injuries & blood. Instead of suggesting we just hag out at home where no one will probably die, I took a deep breath & said "sure, why not?"

We met at the outdoor skating rink in Westerly. I laughed when I found out it was little S's first time skating too. Apparently, Julie had waited until she was 5 to try it out. You were just barely 3. Inside my head a voice was saying, "get out of here before something really bad happens."

After you & S spent 5 minutes knocking each other down with hugs & giggles, we put our skates on & stepped onto the ice. It had been years since I had last put on skates. I immediately felt wobbly & wondered how I would keep myself upright let alone the two of us. Luckily, they had a bunch of milk crates nearby. I threw you eased you over to one, & we both kind of held onto it for a while while we got our bearings.

It actually wasn't so bad. In fact, it was wicked fun. Little S was able to skate on her own without a crate her very first time skating! You tried to skate on your own, but you felt much better when you held onto something (preferably me). I stumbled along, trying to skate & take pictures & hold you up all at the same time. I was just happy to have never fallen on top of you. And Julie? While she says she hasn't gone skating since her mom had the great idea to take us all when we were kids, there she was easily skating backwards. Ha!

You're such a little perfectionist. You've been walking since you were 8 1/2 months old, & you don't remember what it feels like to be wobbly. You didn't like it that you didn't master skating in the first 30 seconds. After five minutes, you looked at me & said "OK, I'm done Mommy." I let you take a little rest, but then encouraged you to try again. It's OK to not be good at something when you first try it out. Sometimes there's fun in not getting things too. By the end you were embracing your wobbling & having more fun with it.

So, thanks to Julie for encouraging us to go outside of our comfort zone, & have lots of fun.

I love you so,
Mommy