Today was a great Day!! I got to be a kid again today, reliving my youth through my Son. This morning, Mom called with the bright idea to take the kids roller skating. It has been so cold, and the kids have been basically sick and stuck inside the past month, we all needed to get out and have some fun. Honestly, I didn’t know if Spence was old enough or would have enough balance to roller skate, but I thought..what the heck, and with that, we headed down to Champs Rollerdome. Larry and Olive came too and Adam and his kids met us there. I hadn’t been skating since I was in Elementary School…Turns out, things are a little different now that I’m 35. For instance, I don’t have my own skates like I did when I was 8, so I had to use rentals. At 8, I hadn’t yet stretched my abdominal region out to a frightening diameter, leaving myself (to put it nicely) with a slight decrease in muscle tone. The music they play these days sucks! I didn’t recognize one song. Back in the day, they used to play classics like “Rappers Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang, or various hits from the then ultra-popular movie, “Xanadu”. Also, the roller rink seems much smaller than it did when I was 8. But, other than that, everything (i.e.: disco ball, strobe lights, video games, snack bar) was exactly as I remembered it.
Larry doesn’t roller skate, or ice skate, or ski. He says he doesn’t like the sensation of having no control over his feet. So, he was of no help out on the rink today, but he did have the important job of watching Olive, who, but the way, was shaking her little booty the whole time, loving the music and the lights. Mom was there to help him/us too! Adam skated, so it was up to us to help guide Spence and Isabelle. Jenna, who is 8, has been skating for quite some time and did her own thing.
Going into this, and seeing other small children around Spence’s age skating fairly well, I figured Spence would be a natural like his Mom, but I was mortified when I saw that he could not even stand up. I mean, it was like his legs were made of Jello. One trip with him around the rink and it felt like my back/abdomen were ripping apart (I know, pathetic) because I was constantly pulling him up, getting on the floor, helping him balance, etc. There’s no way I can explain just how terrible the poor kid was. Isabelle looked like a pro compared to him. She would scoot along, and hardly ever fell. I couldn’t understand how he could be so bad….it had to be Larry’s genes. Finally, he gave up and wanted the skates off. I couldn’t blame him. His poor arms have to be at least 2 inches longer with all the pulling I did on them today. When I went to take off his skates, I realized the problem….Larry had tied them on so loosely that there’s no way the kid could balance himself. He had no support around his ankles. Larry argued that tying the skates tighter would not help the poor guy, and it didn’t matter anyway, because Spence was done…he wanted to play air hockey.
While they played, I went out and did some more skating with Adam and Isabelle and, not to brag or anything, but…. I’ve still got it!! It’s like riding a bike I guess. I am still able to skate as well as I did when I was a kid. I mean, since I hadn’t skated in so many years, I didn’t know what to expect.
Eventually I was able to talk Spence into putting the skates on one more time….and would you believe it…it was like a new kid. He was so much better. He had great balance and was able to skate around the rink with me, no problem. I would skate backwards and hold his hands while he was facing me. It helped with his balance. He was so proud of himself, and I was so proud of him..and relieved that he hadn’t inherited Larry’s genes after all, it was just poor shoe-tying.It was getting late and we were talking about leaving, but then they announced that they were going to have races. Of course, Spence and Isabelle couldn’t race..you have to be able to skate on your own. Jenna decided she would race and she did great!! She didn’t win, but came close. Adam said he wanted to race and asked me if I would. Now…..let me tell you…..at age 8, there was no way in hell I would’ve gotten out on that rink in front of all of those people to race. But, at 35, I said “what the hell” and decided to do it….I’m breaking down walls here people !!!! When they announced that it was time for the parent’s race,I didn’t really mind going b/c I thought it was a co-ed race. Turns out, that’s just a rouse to get people out there. Once out on the rink, they divided us up. Of course I couldn’t leave at that point, I’d look like a coward. So, I had to be tough, and do it. I looked to Adam for support, he gave me the “kick some ass look”, but then we both looked to my right….. and there stood a woman in a muscle shirt, cut-off jeans and her own pair of speed skates. We both knew I was already defeated. I tried to stay strong, standing timidly in my cords, turtle neck and some cheap rentals. My only solace was that the other Mom’s in the race seemed normal like me, I thought I would have a good chance at beating them…they had rentals too. But, alas, I didn’t do so great…I came in 5th out of 6. Muscle shirt woman beat everyone by a landslide. The best excuse I have for my weak performance is that I didn’t have good pole position. I had a great start, but you had to skate around cones, and I was way on the outside. I was also kind of cautious taking my turns, because the one thing I didn’t want to do was fall. When Adam’s turn came, he got off to a bad start, but still finished in the top 3 and just like back in 1980, received a free Coke!! I was very proud of him and of both of us really for getting out there and trying. That’s something I never really had the chance to do as a kid since I didn’t play any sort of organized sports. After the races, we took a few more spins around the rink and then decided it was time to call it a day…and what a wonderful day it was!!
I know the pictures aren’t great…they were taken by my phone, but I thought I’d post them anyway.
