Ice Skating Lessons

Rebecca recently started ice skating lessons. The first lesson was a complete disaster. We had missed the first session, so we were a little confused about the protocol and process. The kids have to wear helmets for the lessons, so I put Rebecca's bike helmet on. It seemed to fit properly when she tried it on, but after her first fall on the ice, the helmet became lopsided on her head, and remained that way for the entire lesson. I knew it was bothering Rebecca because she tried to fix it, but as she raised her hands to her head she began to lose her balance, and quickly dropped her hands to her side. On top of that, I forgot to put her gloves on (she was the only kid out there without gloves). So everytime she fell, her little hands would get colder and wetter. But she managed to make it through the 30 minute lesson without losing her cool.

Finally, the lesson came to an end, and all the kids made their way to the other side of the rink for "free skate". Rebecca didn't know where to go for free skate because she had missed the first lesson a week earlier. So she was totally confused and bewildered, with cold hands, helmet askew, and quickly losing her ability to keep herself balanced on the skates. Her instructor had skated away, and disappeared without even picking up on the fact that Rebecca was lost. She looked terrified, and I could only sit and watch from the bleachers, and yell to her to go towards the free skate area. She, of course, couldn't hear me because I was behind the glass wall, and the acoustics in an ice skating rink are really bad.

Eventually she made her way to the door, found me, and quickly became hysterical. I tried my best to calm her down, but she was pretty upset. I made a deal with her that she could miss the rest of free skate, but next week she had to participate in the lesson again. She agreed, and began to calm down. Since then, she's had 3 more lessons, and she is definitely improving. Jen and I have taken her skating a couple of times as well to get some practice. Even though her first experience was pretty bad, I didn't want her to be discouraged and avoid ice skating for the rest of her life. So it became our mission to make sure she got back on the ice, and had a positive experience.

So far, we're making progress.