when you fall down...you've got to...you know-well it didn't quite work that way with Parker this weekend. He had his first 2 practices of skating.
Saturday he was all fired up. I got him dressed and right out on the ice he went. And down he went, again and again and again. Helmets are obviously mandatory, but to fall the full 3 feet he is from a standing position flat on his back finally got the best of him after about 40 falls. He was bawling on the ice and wanted mommy. So we watched the last 10 minutes of practice. I told him it was okay to fall down, that's how you learn to get up...which I should mention he wasn't real good at either. So after practice we got home and talked about skating. He liked it, said he wanted to go again, but that he wanted me to hold him. We get there Sunday and he is again all fired up to get out there. This time I put some of his hockey pads on...the poor kid. He puts one leg on the ice and I think, good, he is going to get on it...and wait, nope, off he comes crying again. Walks right off the rubber mat, with newly sharpened skates, and over to me at the stairs. He refuses to get on the ice. Parents aren't allowed during the practices to be out there with him. So we watch the practice continue from the sidelines. Every 2 minutes or so a teacher comes over and asks if he wants to come out on the ice and he cowers behind me (and Emmitt). I tried everything but he wouldn't go. So a teacher suggests we go to the box and he can watch up close there. Pretty soon, she comes over with a bucket of bean bags. He gets to pick out a bean bag (purple) and toss it on the ice. He does. Then she says he has to go get it. And he does! He plays with the bean bag, tossing and retrieving it like it was no problem. She looks up at the clock and says it was time to go. The practice only lasted 30 minutes...it took 25 to get Parker on the ice.
So later Sunday afternoon family skate time is here. I ask Parker if he wants to skate with mommy on her skates. He does. So we get all bundled up and get to the rink and he goes right on with me. I want to at least show him how to push the guides they have and that he might not fall down so much. We were pushing a walker like old people use for awhile on the ice but it wasn't going anywhere. Then we see his buddy NoNa (Noah) and he is pushing away on a guide. So we try that one and Parker could actually get from one place to the next with out me hanging on. We played Zamboni on the ice for awhile-laying on the ice-and we made snow angels too. We took breaks in the box. But most of all I got him out there with out being too scared. He even smiled too. So I have a few more weeks to decide if we go for skating or get our money back! We don't want to push him, so we are letting him decide if he wants to go or not.
Until next weekend...
PS-we have snow on the ground!
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Hi Becky, I've been running a snowplow sam class in the Twin Cities for the past 9 years. I thought I should chime in and let you know that Parker's behavior is actually pretty typical. I would encourage you to stick with it. There are always a couple of kids in my class that just sit on the ice or run back to mom and dad for the first few lessons. If the parents keep bringing the kids back, what I see is that they eventually do decide its ok and participate with the class. I know how it can be really frustrating for the parents and the coaches though. The parents feel like it is useless for them to be paying for a lesson when their kid is just sitting there, and the coaches feel bad that they really aren't giving the lesson that the parent is paying for. It gets to be all worth it though when he finally does say ok I'll join the rest of the class today.
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