When I asked my husband S. what he wanted to do for Father’s Day, he said: “Roller skating.” I thought, “Cool, we're the Active Family!” I’d never done it before, but I love ice skating, so I thought I’d figure it out.
I put on the skates, stood up, and fell down. The floor felt buttered. S. was off like a shot, listening to Radio Disney and lost in memories of 6th grade roller-disco parties. My stepson H. was moving slowly, but he was moving. Clinging to the wall, I took miniscule steps, punctuated by terrified, slow rolling. I got around the rink once; then fell again. S. took pity on me and pulled me around a couple times, which was only slightly embarrassing. After a brief but equally disastrous switch to in-line skates, I happily gave up, took some photos, Facebooked from my phone, and ate half a pretzel (3 POINTS values, but you should have seen what else they had).
Back in my geeky, unathletic childhood, or even a couple years ago, this would have been a crushing defeat. But now I can admit there are things I can and can’t do. So I can’t roller skate. I can ice skate, do challenging yoga poses, walk a mile each way to the train every day and not even feel it, and watch people I Iove enjoy Father’s Day, and that’s good enough for me.
Here's an article about in-line skating for beginners, if you're braver than me: http://bit.ly/8G7yw
--Rebecca Turner
Categories:
Family, Fitness, Fun, Sports