I have 2 young boys. The oldest is in Kindergarten. A couple of months ago my eldest had a field trip with his class to go skating at a rink. Now, in his short life, he had never skated before ; )... but, as most young boys of 6 years believe, they can do anything and do it as well as someone who's been doing it for years! They have a 'take on the world' attitude that makes all possibilites possible! The day arrived. With the entire kindergarten class, we arrived at the rink. We collected our skates, got them on and my Son quickly discovered that -first- you have to learn how to *balance* on skates! Then..., you have to learn how to *walk* in the tightly laced up boots with thin metal blades on the bottom of them! Once we mastered that, the next part was stepping onto the ice... Have you been back on the ice, after a long period of time of NOT being on the ice? The ice is a lot more slippery than you remembered, right! My son saw some older kids get on the ice, and just start skating. So, he immediately concluded that he could do that too. Down he went, from the first step onto the ice, and then every step thereafter. One thing about my son - he's not a quitter. When he wants to do something of his own free will, there's no helping him... No one can help, not teachers, not other parents, not me, no one. So, I had to be patient, love him and let him struggle at it for a few minutes. Countless times I asked him if he wanted to accept my help; to which I would get a very frustrated "no!" Now this went on for about 25 minutes like this... Him trying to get his feet under him... him losing his footing and landing on his stomach on the ice... Him finally getting some footing, and promptly falling down. On and on it went. After 25 minutes of him "swimming" on the ice trying to get his footing, and then failing to stand up for more then 5 seconds on the ice, he finally accepted my help. But, just to help him to stand up. He wanted to skate in the center of the ice rink and refused to hold on to any of the side boards - much too childish for him! And, he certainly was not happy with the fact that his male counterparts from class were seeing his Mother teaching him how to skate, and helping him to get up off the ice, time and time again. Eventually, he learned that a little help goes a long way, and he let me help. With my knees and back bent, holding most of his weight, flailing arms and legs; I was able to coach him on how he needed to get his balance centered on the middle part of the skate blades [thank God, I used to Figure Skate!] After about an hour of this, we managed to get a grip on the movements and strokes needed to perform the "art" of skating! And, after that hour was up, he could skate on his own, get up from a fall, balance and carry on skating. I was so proud of his perseverance, and his commitment to completion - as stubborn as he was during the whole thing! I am so thankful that I was able to be there to give him the one-on-one coaching that none of the teachers had time to give him. And, none of the other kid's parents would have been able to give him. More importantly, experiencing the day with my son re-confirmed that my decision to be a parent at home for my children was the right one. Because that is where my precious children need me to be. I am thankful that I found a home based Program that allows me the TIME-FREEDOM to raise my kids from home, while it works for me in the background making sales and providing what I need to support my family financially. |
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