Skating Lesson

We are Canadians. Although we live in a part of the country where the climate rarely provides outdoor ice, we still view skating as an important skill. After all, you have to know how to skate if you’re going to play hockey. And even those of us who’ve never played hockey have probably logged some time inside the rink.

So, as part of our never-ending quest to find fun activities for our preschooler, we’ve enrolled Hannah in her first skating lessons. I saw a photo of happy children pushing plastic shopping carts around the ice in the rec guide. I showed this to Hannah, and said, “Look at that, would you like to try?” Hannah was excited at the prospect, telling everyone that she would be going to skating lessons and pushing a little shopping cart.

These days kids need a hockey helmet with a full face cage. I tasked Jon with acquiring it, and the nice man at the sporting goods store sold him a kid’s helmet. Only it didn’t really fit Hannah all that well, so back it went. Then he called all over to find the right size, and he finally did, driving across town on his lunch break to secure it. We got that one home and although the box indicated it should be good, the actual helmet inside was a larger size. Finally, it occurred to us to check out Canadian Tire (motto: We have Canadian stuff), and we found the right helmet for our little skater.

On the morning of the first skating class we were running late (of course). Then when Jon tried to zip up Hannah’s winter coat he realized the zipper wasn’t really working properly. After both of us tried it, and now running even later, we gave up and dressed Hannah in a sweater and her fall coat. Luckily she has another warm coat, but it lives at daycare, which is of course closed on Saturdays.

We managed to make it to the rec centre, but the parking was a total fiasco because a good portion of the spots are still covered by snow. With 5 minutes left until class Jon dropped Hannah and I off out front, and we ran to the skate rental counter. I got the skates, and wrestled them onto Hannah’s feet. She she told me that the elastic on her head hurt, but I was running and didn’t really take the time I should have. We finally located her class, and she was off.

The class went well. There were 4 little kids and 1 instructor, and they spent the 30 minutes learning how to stand up. Hannah managed it on her own several times, and not everyone did. Of course she fell after a few seconds, but going from lying on your stomach to standing on ice unsupported is a big deal. We thought she was doing really well. When she got off the ice, though, it was apparent that something was up.

Hannah was upset that she hadn’t gotten to push a toy shopping cart. (Way to go, mom, with the photo and the assuming). She was discouraged because she couldn’t stay upright on her skates. Her hair elastic was bothering her, and her skates were bothering her. In short, it hadn’t been quite what she envisioned.

We talked to Hannah about how skating is hard to learn. We promised to bring her warm coat from daycare next time, to omit the hair elastic, and to spend more time making sure her skates were on properly and comfortable on her feet. I think that if we can actually leave the house on time it’s bound to be better. Anyways, Hannah is feeling better about the whole thing, and is ready to go back on Saturday. We’ll give it at least a few weeks. I think that it’s too early to tell if skating is doomed or not, based on one hectic morning.

What I do know for sure is that a whole bunch of preschoolers in snow suits and massive helmets are ridiculously cute. They’re like little bobble-heads, crawling around on the ice. Wee little Canadians with dreams of hockey glory – if they can ever learn to stand up on skates.