Even though my eight-year-old has been coughing like an old man with 30 years of smoking behind him and falling apart each night when it's time to go to bed. I let him go to a birthday party last night - from 7:30 to 9:30 at a Roller rink. You heard me right.
I offered to take the neighbor to the party, not thinking that maybe he should just stay home and cough. Also - he's never roller skated before. What was I thinking? So I take these two to the roller rink last night and as I am helping with skates I whispered to my son, "Are you a little nervous?"
"Yes."
"Let's talk about this. This is the break, you want to push your feet out to the sides a little bit, easy - glide."
Although I went to the roller rink every weekend as a grade schooler, I have not done it in years and I have never taught anyone how to roller skate. But my son is determined, athletic, smart - basically not me. So I am going on the assumption that he is going to be just fine.
We got the roller skates on and he stood up and immediately started to do the splits. He looked at me like a deer in the headlights saying, "What the ?" He started out slowly like Bambi on those shaky legs holding on to the wall and slipping every two steps. When he got to the end of the wall he turned around and looked at me horrified - "WHAT NOW?!"
I went out into the rink and took his arm and started to guide him around the edge of the rink. Whispering in his ear: you are doing great, you can do this, it's not about being cool, get your feet under you, change your center of balance, glide. I don't know that I was any damn help at all, but as a mom you have to do something right? By the time we get half way around the rink he is sooooo mad at me and fighting tears saying, "I can't do this it's too hard, I don't like it!"
We got back to the carpeted area when one his schoolmate suggested we practise in the carpet until we get the hang of it. DUH! Why didn't I think of that?? He went back and forth on the carpet while I walked next to him, then I sat down and he went back and forth in front of me. His friends came over a couple of times and he told them he was just learning and wanted to stay on the carpet. Soon there was a group of kids hanging out with him going back and forth on the carpet.
I tried to keep my distance, cause I don't figure that an eight year-old boy wants to hang with his mom at a birthday party when there are friends. Besides I kinda felt like a fifth wheel, he was working hard and was surrounded by a gaggle of girls. After watching from the sidelines for another 10 minutes I went over and said there would be a break soon for cake and ice cream and I was going to go. "Are you OK?" YEP! was the quick and confident response. So I left and stopped for wine and a girly movie.
As I left the store every siren you can imagine goes screaming past me in the direction I just came. That's when the panic starts to creep in...why did I leave?? He's never done this before, I spent Friday night in a roller rink. Holy Crap! Creepy adults, horny teenagers, show-off bullies, and broken elbows. What was I thinking.
I didn't crack open the bottle of wine too afraid that I would have to meet the ambulance at Children's hospital where they were reassembling his body parts. I started the movie as a distraction but can't tell you what it was about. Finally at 10:00 p.m. they neighbor rolls up and out pops my son in perfect condition. He bounds to the door and the first thing he says is "I can't believe he's never skated before!"
Before he could go to bed he had to tell me all about how he figured out how to stop by putting his feet in a T (oh yeah, I remember that now) and he watched some other kids and got the hang of it and went back out in the rink and watched the big kids break dance and did the hokey pokey and the chicken dance....
Once in a while, I do it right. I am so proud of him.
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