I am not a helicopter parent, you know the kind of parent who hovers around their child at all costs. Yes, I have stayed home with my kids for the last six years but I like my space too. So if my kids want to play by themselves or with their friends without me, great. That being said, my participation in Nola's school's ice skating outing may have painted a different story.
It started off with excitement from both of my kids. Yay! We were going ice skating and not just anywhere, we were going to skate in the ice arena that housed the high school hockey teams. How cool is that? Pretty cool actually.
The first order of business was to check out ice skates. Nola and I got our skates first, two pairs of brown, vintage figure skates. Then I asked for hockey skates for Miles so he could be like the big boys, but the smallest size they had was 12 and he wears an 11. I contemplated which skates to rent for a few minutes and since I didn't want to return later only to get hockey skates so Miles could be like the big boys, we went with the 12's.
Miles skates worked out well and he was dressed and ready in no time. Nola went through three skate changes before finding the right fit and I went through two. The figure skates hurt my feet so badly that I eventually switched to hockey skates, something I should have done for Nola from the beginning.
A half an hour later, we were finally ready to try out the ice. Nola did not like the unsteadiness of her feet so she grabbed a walker to assist her. Then Miles and I followed and the second we stepped onto the ice, he started screaming. He hated it. He had no control and so he screamed as though someone had ripped the head off of his favorite stuffed animal.
Great, I thought, now what? We were finally ready to participate in our highly anticipated activity and my kids were nervous wrecks at best. Nola was in better shape then Miles so I decided to help him first. I let go of his hand and moved behind him. I then put my arms around his chest and started to glide from side to side. His tears instantly turned off and laughter ensued. Yay, my plan for Miles worked! Now I had to focus on Nola.
She was fairly stable with her PVC pipe walker but not entirely happy. She shuffled around the ice slowly but would not let me out of her sights. She wanted me next to her at all times. It had to be her inexperience with skating because she is normally not that clingy. She didn't even cheer up when her friends were near her, she only wanted me. Oh, did I forget to say that Miles only wanted me as well. Now let's do the math, two kids, one mom, yeah that's right, it does not split equally.
If I left Nola in order to skate with Miles, she would cry. And Nola does not cry. She's the kind of kid who could break her arm then take a big breath and say, "I'm good. Seriously, I'm fine." So to see her crying was so bizarre.
"Bug, honey, what is wrong?" I finally asked her.
"I want you to stay by me," she replied.
"Well, honey, I can't be by you and Miles at the same time. I need both hands to hold him so you have to skate separately. I'm not going to leave you for very long."
"I don't care."
Man, I was getting nowhere. I decided to recruit some of her friends to help me but she only wanted me. And Miles, who was actually having a good time skating, only wanted me to help him. Although he did not cry when it was Nola's turn. He just sat patiently on the ice and waited for me.
Needless to say, I was torn. Torn between my two kids and sore as hell. Yes I did find a way to make Miles smile while skating but it was killing my back to bend over and my wrists where he held on for dear life. Anyone who was paying attention to us must have thought that I was the most overinvolved parent on the planet. But there was nothing I could do, it was my kids first time skating and they were scared to death.
When Nola continued to cry even when I was near her, I finally escorted her to the side and took her skates off. I should have gotten her hockey skates from the beginning because I think that pain was also a problem for her. She begged me to leave the ice arena but Miles wanted to stay so I convinced her to walk out on the ice with her boots while I skated with Miles. She had more control with her boots so a smile actually appeared on her face. We bummed around for a few more minutes then decided to head out and grab some dinner.
I swear to you that this experience was both stressful and unforgettable. But the next day, it was all the kids could talk about. Skating this and skating that. I did not correct them but their tales of "fun" did not sync up with my recollection. I guess all that mattered was that they remembered having fun and weren't scarred for life, unlike my back which needed serious icing from two hours of improper form.
