Today Isabel started her first day of ice skating class/lessons. We were alittle nervous going into today since Isabel has been sick with a cough. But regardless I was determined to make it to skating class. I first have to say when you walked into the Fido arena, I was alittle shocked and taken a back. The locker rooms were filled with children and parents...way more than I could even count. And these parents were in the "zone". I couldn't believe how intense these parents were. Okay maybe I should have expected this since we do live in a "hockey town", but seriously these children are 3 and 4 years old...helllooooooooo. At one point I felt like I was backstage at a pageant! Pageant moms have met their challengers..my money is on the hockey moms.
Okay now that I've been completely judgemental of these parents, lets get to Isabel. When we got on the ice Isabel was alittle surprised how slippery it was ( I don't think she remembered at all going ice skating last year). I held her hands and off we went. Isabel enjoyed gliding on the ice as I pulled her, but she had no desire to try it on her own. But then came Jarmilla (our teacher). There was no introduction, she just came up to us and said "whats her name" then she said, "let go of her and let her come to you and only hold one hand not both". She made Isabel stand on her own and then said, "come to me Isabel, come to me". Thank goodness Isabel happened to lean forward which made her glide to the teacher and then that was it. Our teacher was gone! I must admit I was alittle confused. I knew ahead of time that the class was not a group lesson but rather a one-on-one lesson, but seriously I thought we'd spend more than 2 min. with our teacher. Although I was not impressed with this type of class set-up, I decided what the heck, lets make the best of this. So I spent the rest of our 30 min class time trying to teach Isabel to skate.
Isabel was very funny during class. She would say every other minute, "I can't, its too hard". But then she'd try again. She was very scared of falling,which only happened a few times. At one point Isabel got so frustrated she moved her feet back and forth very quickly (trying to make herself fall) then fell and sat on the ice and cried. To be honest I wanted to get up and leave, but I decided one of us needed to be the adult. So I picked her up and gave her lots of words of encouragement. By the end of class Isabel was having fun, still not quite walking or gliding on the ice, but she was really digging ice skating. She enjoyed it so much that when it was time to leave the rink she started crying and begging to keep ice skating. And the crying continue all the way to the grocery store.
Looking back now I am just so impressed how much Isabel has matured. Ice skating class was completely new for her and those of you who know Isabel well, know she does not take good to new activities or change. But everyday Isabel is growing and maturing. These moments are so exciting and huge for us and Isabel. I look forward to watching Isabel turn into a little skater.
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