A Little Time and a Keyboard: Bruises from the Rink

Bruises from the Rink

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

My daughter has come a long way from painting the floor with her face while skating. She can now skate adeptly without a problem and can even throw a little jump in here and there without a spill. Her lessons at the rink are now about slightly different skills.

Yesterday, my daughter and I went to the rink for our customary school's out--let's skate day.  The day was not quite typical, and, honestly, was a little comical in the end.

My daughter immediately befriended a little girl about her age. (Which she does everywhere we go, of course.) The little girl had a brother, also about my daughter's age. Out of nowhere, he seemed to develop a stalker-like fascination with her. He could not skate as well as her, so he would stumble trying to reach her. My daughter, with her nimble frame and swift feet, was able to navigate through other skaters to stay away.

It was actually a bit funny to see this transpire as the boy, in his large, red hoodie, would stumble on his skates as he pursued my daughter.  He apparently wanted to talk to her.  She would have none of it because she was "concentrating."  At some point, the boy began to squabble with my daughter and his sister.  His grandmother and I intervened, and he ended up spending the rest of the skate sitting out. 



After this, my daughter and her new friend decided that falling was "fun." While skating, I spied my daughter taking tumble after tumble. I am not sure what happened with the "concentrating" that she was doing earlier. I did chuckle a little as I saw her lanky body fall to the ground like a scarecrow.  (I, of course, could tell that it wasn't a "real" fall.)  I went over to talk to her and she "tried" to convince me that she kept tripping. After I talked with her, I could feel her eyeball me every time she was thinking about doing something "goofy."

Skating has definitely changed for us.  Gone are the days when my daughter would have to hug the wall or hold on to me for dear life.  Now, she is able to perform skating tricks and act like a little roller clown.  I am not sure if I was more comfortable with her hanging onto the wall for dear life than with watching her with her new found skating confidence.  Sometimes, it is hard to watch kids push their limits!

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