September 2008

This past weekend we went to the Shine FM Summer Family Fun Fair at the Olympic Oval.

It was my son’s very first time skating. Evan has always had a skating obsession. Since the first time he saw kids on skates, he has wanted to skate. He is also, to my chagrin, a hockey fan. He loves watching it and playing with his Fisher Price plastic hockey sticks. According to him, he loves “pwaying fockey.” He was looking forward to this weekend for days.

We picked up a helmet that came with knee pads and elbow pads earlier in the week and he insisted on wearing them..all the time! He wore them first thing in the morning when he woke up, he wore them to the park, he wore them over his pajamas until bed time. He was so pumped about finally going skating with his hockey equipment he asked about it every day, begged to go every day and even had a full on kicking, screaming, crying meltdown when we would not take him that exact instant!

So finally the big day comes and we strap on his skates. He charges to the skating rink and well..I am sure you can imagine how that went. My husband and I tried holding his hands to hold him up, we tried going behind him to support him, we hoisted him on those metal props that go on the ice but the poor guy was miserable.

We took a break off the ice and enjoyed some of the other festivities offered at the fun fair..the bouncy castle, mini golf, face painting, etc. We decided to try again on the ice and asked Evan if he wanted to skate again. He crossed his arms over his chest and very adamantly wailed, “but I don’t yike skating!”

P.S. If you have ANY suggestions on how to teach a toddler to skate please post your suggestions! Thanks!

Melissa