Guess Where I'll Be The Next Several Weekends
Technically, the nagging started months ago. Once the Olympics began, however, Alexis revved up the Nag-a-sawki and rode that sucker all. day. long. "I wanna go ice skating." "Can we go ice skating?" "I want to ice skate." "Can we pleeeeeeeeeease go ice skating?" OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
The kid is a persistent little bugger. VERY PERSISTENT.
I finally caved earlier in the week, "Fine. I'll take you ice skating this weekend, but you have to be good all week." She agreed to my terms and then actually made good on her end of the deal.
And then I didn't.
Initially I had told her we would go Saturday, but when Saturday rolled around, it turned out we had a few million things we needed to do. A trip to go ice skating for a few hours in the middle of the day just wasn't in the cards. Fully expecting her to have a Category 6 Meltdown that would cause the entire city to collapse, I prepared to offer up My Little Ponies and Dora Dolls and Zac Efron's first-born son as a consolation prize when I broke the news to her.
There were some tears, but in a sign of what was either maturity or she's way too used to getting disappointed, she decided to be OK with waiting another day. I'm hoping it was maturity. Or something.
This morning, Alexis woke bright and early, literally vibrating with excitement. "Momma! It's ice skating day!" she loudly whispered to me at 6:00 am. I love 6:00 am about as much as I love war, kicking puppies, and root canals. I told her to go back to sleep or else.
She didn't. I have a bald spot to prove it because she spent two solid hours twirling my hair. Every time I would try to fuss at her, she would feign sleep. Evil little creature . . .
Anyway, a few hours later we finally headed out for the ice rink, Alexis still vibrating with excitement and me silently hoping that the adventure would live up to her expectations. I had a hunch that she expected ice skating to be as easy as it looks on TV. I knew she was about to get a dose of reality.
The whole trip there (and it was quite a hike), she kept back-seat-driving. "Is this the right way to ice skating?" "Are we there yet?" "I don't wan't to stop at Starbucks. It's time to ice skate." "Drive faster." "Are you sure ice skating is this way?" "Drive FASTER!" Evil. little. creature.
We finally made our way to the rink, rented our skates, and set out for the ice. It took about two seconds for Alexis to figure out that she couldn't download instructions to her brain like in the movie Matrix, and she was PISSED. I wondered to myself if we would even manage to make one full lap before she gave up.
We did.
And then another. And then another. And then another.
The amazing part about that is if ever there was a human born to criticize herself entirely too much, it's Alexis. I don't know what goes on in that little head of hers, but she is really hard on herself. If she can't do something perfectly on the first try, she is very likely to throw a tantrum and give up. The biggest fit she has ever thrown was when she accidentally colored an apple brown on a worksheet. I mean, really. The kid beats the crap out of herself so often that she'll never need somebody else to knock her off any sort of pedestal. It's something we try to work on daily with her, but the perfectionist in her runs all the way to her bones.
Around and around we went, her oscillating between disappointment that she couldn't skate fast and joy that she was actually on the ice. One minute it was a pained, "I'm not a good skater," and the next it was, "Momma, let go of my hand. I can do it myself."
By the time the two hours of open skating was up, she could. She who gives up entirely too easily was skating
--all--
--by--
--herself--
before we left.
I might be just a tiny bit proud of her.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Reader Comments (27)
Yet one MORE thing that child can teach me. She's uber talented.
@Karen--You might want to learn from a professional. I can't say that she's going to be getting any style points any time soon, unless being cute while you fall on your butt counts. ;-) ~~Michelle~~
Congratulations on the skating progress. Maybe you have a little Olympian on your hands! (But think of the practicing that would involve!!!)
Lindsey Petersen
http://5kidswdisabilities.wordpress.com
@Lindsey--My arms are falling off just thinking about it. ~~Michelle~~
that's because ice skating is the best EVER. And now I have dreams of her being the female Ryan Malone, first female hockey player from Pittsburgh to win an Olympic medal....y/y?
You have a really awesome kid. Just sayin'.
Love the story...and her determination :) yeah Alexis!
Oh now, where are the photos? What you were too busy skating to take photos? :-)
I love her determination and can't wait to hear more about her future trips to the rink.
Trust me, when I was little I wanted to skate so bad too. Dad took me to my grandmother's pond. Dang it, that was hard and I think it was one of the last time's I went...mainly because my attention was drawn somewhere else...I'm a bit schizo like that. :-) Blogging is one of the only things I've kept up with for awhile...and photography. Er...and writing...well, I'm not always schizo then!
That? Is awesome. I'm sure she forgives you for the delay - 'cause now she can ice skate! Sounds like you had a great time.
Abby can be rough on herself like that, too; One try and then frustrated tantrum and giving up if she fails. I think this is similar to how we view things as an adult, in some ways: Yes, we usually learn things over years of practice and/or use of a skill before we are masters at it, but we often expect to pick up something new and be masters at it in no time at all, which also often ends with us giving up on the idea of pursuing it further when we realize we aren't masters. (What we all need to realize is that we are merely beginners, and that mastery takes time. But to get that through to a four year-old? Tough stuff!) We definitely expect Matrix-like skill acquisition! Oh, how I wish it worked that way!
I really like "I don't want to stop at Starbucks." during the drive. Heh! Without Starbucks, Mom will be teaching you to crawl and slither across the ice, eh? ;-)
I'm glad she stuck with it. She doesn't have to be perfect at it, she just has to enjoy herself.
Oh yeah, and ice skating is a skill I wish I had, but I never learned. I went with one of my best friends for lessons once, but they had too many people sign up, so after a wait to see if there were any open slots, they just refunded our money and sent us on our way. We never got back.
Maybe "one of these days."
My two year old would stand and glide about the room like a skater - attempt to lift her leg behind her or whirl into a little spin (usually turned into a little interpretive modern dance) - EVERY time the skaters would start during this Olympics. With the skiers and snowboarders, she would just utter, "amazing" again and again while watching, but... the skating... that was different :-). Anyway - I am amazed that your little one is so into it. My big fear is that I scare my kids with the "slippy" sports like skiing, etc. and they never want to go back. Have fun with the skating.... Sounds like it could be a "thing" for you guys... and, yes, future Olympian - why not? :-)
Holy cats, Flora is just like that too. I don't need to correct or constructively criticize her because as soon as she makes a mistake she melts into a pile of defeat!
We're working on it.
Cool that Alexis wanted to go ice skating and stuck with it. Hope you all got hot chocolate. (Isn't that the only reason to go ice skating?)
I'm waiting for the photos of her skating! Although, I won't blame you if you left your camera off the ice for fear of shattering it in case you fell.
Few things are as satisfying as watching your kids grow right before your very eyes!
Way to go Alexis and way to NEVER give up.
Well she kicks my bootay...I'm so bad at ice skating:P
Well, you should be, too! Really, that is an awesome achievement for that age. Not just the learning to skate, but the drive to do it.
All. At. One. Lesson.
So, you know you have to take her again, huh? ;-)
*yay* Alexis! It's great she found something so important to her that she didn't give up!
Allison asked just a few weeks ago when we could take Alex and Peanut skating. Holy chaotic Burghmom event in the making, perhaps? *wince*
That is awesome!! Where did you go? Didn't they have those things the kids can hold on to while learning that look like walkers? I am so glad that it lived up to her expectations!!
aw yay :)
Maggie's got the perfectionist thing running through her, too. She gets REALLY FREAKING MAD when she can't do something on the first try. We're working on it.
She is SO going to play for the Penguins.
I don't think we are quite there yet with Abby. She is not the best coordinated child. I think we will have to wait another year to try ice skating. I think she inherited her father's coordination and sports skills. I hope to break this at some point. I was very active as a child. I danced tap and jazz and played softball. When I was older I was on the swim team and in marching band.
It is so great that you were able to do this with Alexis. Next thing you know you will be paying for lessons and dance will go by the wayside.
What a sweet picture!
Yaya for A! I am proud of her too! Having the same kid (perfectionist) I know how challenging it must have been for both of you to get through that learning curve, but you do have a TON of patience. My girl LOVES to Ice Skate and I have promised her that we will go this weekend. She has been reminding me daily, and wrote it on the Calendar. Sigh. Looks like I am locked in. :)
Congrats! Sounds a lot like my kid. All she wants to do is play hockey. During the week when I am unable to take her to the rink, we substitute ice skates with small baskets she shuffles around on. And a back scratcher as a hockey stick.
Awww! Love the look on her face! It says, "Uh-huh! I'm good! I know it!" with an adorable amount of attitude. I'm a whole lot proud of her, too. :-D
You should totally patent the word "Nag-a-sawki." It's so wonderful. As is Miss A. Glad you (she) had fun at the rink! :)
As well you should be proud :) What a fearless creature you have there!
that is awesome. My Alexis is hard on herself as well. Is it the name?
YAY ALEXIS! Good for her!
So how long until you're doing dance classes AND ice skating...?
Yay yay yay!