Kasi pag tinulungan, ma-slide din ako. ?

#howtoiceskate #balancingproblems

 

It was a week of “firsts” for Mia because shortly after her first theater experience watching Annie The Musical (see post HERE) she somehow convinced Daddy Chris to go ice skating.

Sounds exciting ehh?

Well, yeah, for Mia.

Me, I was panicking inside.

How could I help my child when I couldn’t even balance!

I couldn’t even stand still! LOL

I was afraid I’d fall first and pull her down with me. ?

Waaaaaaa!

I actually knew how to skate before but many years have passed and I’m back to zero. ZERO.

So it took about an hour before I got used to the weight of the ice skates again. It was quite heavy and it felt like I’d break my weak ankles any time.

But her, oh my, she was so brave.

At home, before we even went out, she was sure she could do it. She said she already know how because she was skating in her dreams and she was really good at it.

Hmmm.. Dreams.

“It is MUCH MORE slippery on the real skating rink, Mia.” 

“But I CAN! I’m good already.”

That’s confidence, my friends. Over confidence. Hehehe.

So for her not to get frustrated, we had to do some mind setting.

We always do this whenever we’re about to do something she hasn’t tried before.

       

Knowing that she gets anxious on new places and new people, much more on new experiences, we help her manage her expectations.

Here’s how the “briefing” went before we braved the ice.

“Mia, I know you’re very excited and Mommy’s very excited too! (ahem) But.. but.. it’s not as easy as it looks on TV okay?

We will start slow. Super slow. We’ll have to hold onto the bars first.

And we are going to fall. A lot of times. And it is going to hurt. And it’s okay. 🙂 Everybody falls. 

Now every time we fall, what do we do? We get back up and wait for the pain to fade away before we try again.

We can’t spin or go fast right away okay? We are still learning.

But as soon as we already know how, then we can go to the center.

Don’t get mad when some people bump us okay? That’s all right. It’s not their fault. They don’t mean to hurt us. It’s because of the ice. The ice is very slippery and skaters often slip and get off-balanced.

Our clothes might also get wet.

If you get tired, we can rest and have a snack. And when you’re ready, we can go again.”

 

It’s funny that while I’m writing this down, I’m realizing how my words sounded like “life advices”.

Go ahead, scroll back up and read it again. LOL

Anyway, it really helps when she knows what’s ahead.

Chris also googled some ice skating tips while watching us from the side benches, and he told us not to look down on our feet, not to lean backwards (lean forward instead), to slightly bend our knees, and to practice falling and standing up first.

We tried to do those. And after wobbling here and there, it became less stressful. Mia has started to relax too. She even tried to do some turns!

 

It was fun thereafter. 🙂

We didn’t come out skilled. NOT AT ALL. I even slipped one last time before we left.

But if you’re planning to go ice skating, here are some helpful tips:

See more photos and tips on Page 2. Continue reading…