Another sporting activity we’ve been enjoying all winter is ice skating! We signed the kids up for lessons and though some weeks more touch and less go – the first in particular – it’s been really fun for us all. We picked up second hand skates from a sports shop. Figure skates for Lucie and a double bladed skate for Teddy are what they happened to have available in their toddler sizes. The first day there was some falling and Teddy couldn’t bear to even put weight on his feet but their coach assured us that they’d be skating around by the end of the course. We decided to upgrade Teddy to hockey skates since the double blades weren’t serving him well at all. The next week Lucie was moving around fairly confidently by herself! Around the 3rd or 4th class I took the kids by myself and they both did terrifically, I think because they had to, there wasn’t a second parent around to hold two hands (twin life – we are pretty used to this scenario). Teddy stood by himself and even “walked” without falling off the ice at the end. The teacher caught Lucie trying to make a turn and showed her how to spin around, which she did perfectly! However at the end she threw her arms up in excitement and fell face first leaving some blood behind her. Ouch! She barely shed a tear despite the hole in her lip and Coach and I both assured her that she was awesome, it’s not a real sport without some bloodshed. The 8th and final lesson Teddy had a breakthrough. We rented him figure skates and he moved all around the ice like he’s been doing it his whole life. So in conclusion, here’s a lesson from us to you all, hockey skates are really tough to learn in because of their curved blade. Figure skates are flat and longer and give a lot more surface area to practice balance and movement. Don’t fall for the “coolness” of hockey skates for a first timer, trust me. Lastly the coach said we could sign them up for the next level, without parent participation, hooray!
This video is from the last class and neither kid was indulging us with their various skills, but you get the picture. Cheers!
Sprinkles and Cupcake 