First Skate
We took Calder for his first skate of the year yesterday. Hugh and I were excited to see improvements. In fact, after last years spaghetti legs, we knew there was no where to go but up!
As we left the rink, I turned to Hugh and said, "I don't know how to make this into a blog post without gloating. I am so proud." Hugh's response, "It's your blog. Gloat if you want." Yes it is - so here I go :-)
Calder did amazingly well for his first time on skates this year. We had been pumping him up hard the last week, telling him he would fall, and that skating would be difficult, but that he just had to keep trying. We told him that Sunday was about working hard at learning how to skate.
When we hit the ice, he slipped and sputtered around. He didn't have any major spills and not because he was a good skater or even strong on his skates. Hugh and I forgot his helmet. GASP. I know. We were those parents. We didn't want to head home to grab it (we went skating in the city and it would have been at least a 45 minute round trip), so Calder had one of us either hanging on to him or hovering over him the entire time.
After about 5 minutes on the ice, Hugh looked over at me and said, "This is not going to take long for him to pick up." And it totally won't! The improvements he made in that 1/2 hour were incredible. The most noticeable improvement was that he was able to get up off the ice and stand by himself.
I think the part that made me most proud was that Calder smiled the whole time (it didn't hurt that he was spared from any major spills :-) and he never gave up.
Calder didn't take more than a step or two on his own, but our boy is going to be skating on his own this year! I am so pumped. Hugh and I both love being on the ice. Hugh still plays hockey and gets to skate a few times a week. I don't skate that much any more, but being out there, ripping around, made me realize I couldn't wait for the rust to shake off and regain some of my lost skills. When will Calder be ready to play shinny?
I think the part that made me most proud on Sunday was that Calder smiled the whole time (again, thanks to no spills :-) and he never gave up.
Hugh and I made a decision to start taking Calder to skating lessons. They will be lead by us at public skating every Sunday we are around home. I have already done a bit of reading and have some ideas of things to do show him.
I would love to hear any tips you have on teaching your kids to skate!
Next Sunday can't come soon enough!
City of Saskatoon public skating schedule
City of Martensville public skating schedule
As we left the rink, I turned to Hugh and said, "I don't know how to make this into a blog post without gloating. I am so proud." Hugh's response, "It's your blog. Gloat if you want." Yes it is - so here I go :-)
Calder did amazingly well for his first time on skates this year. We had been pumping him up hard the last week, telling him he would fall, and that skating would be difficult, but that he just had to keep trying. We told him that Sunday was about working hard at learning how to skate.
When we hit the ice, he slipped and sputtered around. He didn't have any major spills and not because he was a good skater or even strong on his skates. Hugh and I forgot his helmet. GASP. I know. We were those parents. We didn't want to head home to grab it (we went skating in the city and it would have been at least a 45 minute round trip), so Calder had one of us either hanging on to him or hovering over him the entire time.
After about 5 minutes on the ice, Hugh looked over at me and said, "This is not going to take long for him to pick up." And it totally won't! The improvements he made in that 1/2 hour were incredible. The most noticeable improvement was that he was able to get up off the ice and stand by himself.
I think the part that made me most proud was that Calder smiled the whole time (it didn't hurt that he was spared from any major spills :-) and he never gave up.
Calder didn't take more than a step or two on his own, but our boy is going to be skating on his own this year! I am so pumped. Hugh and I both love being on the ice. Hugh still plays hockey and gets to skate a few times a week. I don't skate that much any more, but being out there, ripping around, made me realize I couldn't wait for the rust to shake off and regain some of my lost skills. When will Calder be ready to play shinny?
I think the part that made me most proud on Sunday was that Calder smiled the whole time (again, thanks to no spills :-) and he never gave up.
Hugh and I made a decision to start taking Calder to skating lessons. They will be lead by us at public skating every Sunday we are around home. I have already done a bit of reading and have some ideas of things to do show him.
I would love to hear any tips you have on teaching your kids to skate!
Next Sunday can't come soon enough!
City of Saskatoon public skating schedule
City of Martensville public skating schedule
LOVE!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf you give him a hockey stick and hold the blade end, he can hold the handle while you skate backwards pulling him. I find it works better than pushing a chair. It teaches him to lean forward a bit and to glide. You can always have the other parent behind him as we'll.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Brandi
Love this and can't wait to get Lily on skets this year....and (while cleaning my storage room this coming weekend), I will keep an eye out for all my CanSkate coaching books. They had some awesome tips and tricks for teaching kids to skate! If I find it I'll send it your direction :)
ReplyDeleteMessage me when you're going on Sunday- maybe the Simairs will join you for some lessons!
ReplyDelete