Just Rolling Along

 

Yesterday we went roller skating with our home school group. When I say ‘we’, I really mean my kidlets. Because even though I spent almost every weekend at the local roller skating rink when I was a teenager, and my favorite thing to do was speed skating, those times are long gone. Gimpy knees change your life just a little bit.

Just had to share this photo. With skates on, my twinlings gave me an idea what it will be like in another year or two, when I’ll be looking UP at them! (Oh, and keep in mind I’m just an inch shy of 6 ft)

Anyway, my twinlings used to go skating once a week when we lived in South Carolina years ago, so they were looking forward to it. But this was my daughter first time roller skating and she was very nervous because one of her girl scouts friends had scared her by telling her how the last time she went skating, she fell and broke her wrist.

So, Jen was most terrified of falling.

She was excited to skate, though, and after lacing up her skates, I walked with her across the thin carpet, all around the building. She never let go of me or the wall or furniture, though. And I had to remind her not use those things to pull herself along.

She was enjoying herself, but kept noticing all the other kids,and her twin brothers, on the skating rink and she desperately wanted to make that next step.

 

But she wasn’t ready.

After rolling only 10 feet on the slippery smooth rink, she became terrified to the point of tears, when she came close to falling. She grabbed onto the wall for dear life and inched her way back to the safety of the thin carpet again.

Sobbing with frustration and fear she insisted we go home that instant. But after I held her, stroked her hair and wiped away her tears, I put my ‘tough Mommy’ face on and insisted that she come over to the wall with me and watch all the skaters.

Because what she was most afraid of was falling.

She reluctantly agreed, and within moments she saw what I saw…….lots of people falling. And lots of people falling and getting right back up, usually laughing, to continue on skating.

After a few minutes of watching, a friend of hers came rolling by and promptly fell at my daughter’s feet. My daughter watched in awe as her friend laughed and scrambled back up on her skates again, and asked Jen to join her.

I held my breath as I watched my brave little girl take a few rolling steps across the carpet, on her own, without the use of any support. Then she stopped and surprised me by purposefully falling down. She sat up and smiled a huge smile and said, “I did it!”

And that was what she spent the next 45 minutes doing…….carpet skating, interspersed with carefully timed falling…….and huge grins.

I’m so proud of my Jen Jen!

My little girl learned some very important lessons yesterday:

1)Just because someone tells you their horror stories, don’t make them your own horror stories.

2)Don’t give up when things get tough or scary.

3)Don’t let your fears control you. You control them.

4)Most of all, do the things you love. Live life.