Skater Babe....err Mom

I took the girls skating yesterday. Gearing up for it was not fun. I felt a bit under the weather, a storm was on its way, we had done other fun mommy vacation stuff so the promised skating didn't seem to hold appeal...for me...but fantasy mom kicked in and off to the rink we went. Besides that I like skating, don't I? Isn't that why I started taking the children?

2 Buses from the Y in the parking lot. Thoughts of a quiet-ish skating rink were dashed.

I rented my skates. Sat putting them on thinking why wasn't I one of the other moms who sat and read a book or did computer stuff while supervising skating children. But I was there and skates were on. Start skating...1/4 of the way through the first time around with children zipping by and my desk jockey legs screaming, I was still wondering even as my wee one waited grinning. Soon enough I was skating.

Those of you new to wee hours or who haven't paid attention...I am incredibly clumsy. On my FEET (also sitting, in bed, etc). I am also clumsy skating. I never learned the crossover thing that is apparently a must for turning and I don't know how to brake. But, I really love skating. Let me tell you why...

I think better in motion. Let me drive a car...fast highway driving...or ride a bike...or skate and I can THINK. One of the things I thought as I pondered the fact that I think better skating is that if I was a child today, I would probably be on some sort of medication. Instead I had a mother who was always telling me to stop diddling (one of her wide range of terms for fidgeting) tapping, getting up, kicking, tapping, fidgeting. Go play outside. One of my children also is this way but she has the same ability as I had to just appear to be still even when in motion at school. Of course this takes the form of daydreaming and reading. (reading is a physical activity for the two of us...don't ask, we won't be able to tell)

Skating is a different sort of motion. It requires me to: a. trust that I am not going to fall and geez the ground is way far away. b. Count. Some of you may know I can't count but I do count in skating. lift foot 1...2. Lift foot 1...2. The focus that this requires keeps my brain moving in one direction instead of the 5000 directions it goes in at once. (like it is now while I try to figure out how to explain skating magic)

No, I am not graceful. Yes, I sometimes fall...though not yesterday...but all in all...skating is a good thing. The best thing about skating as a grown up is that my girls are with me, having fun.