Sunday Skate - Kids

I got to the Ice Arena just on 2pm (as agreed) to meet up with the kids for our Sunday Skate.  They weren't there yet, so I put on my skates and was just thinking through the logistics of either waiting for them in the lobby area or going into the main area and the rinks.  B (9) solved the problem by dashing through the entrance to tell me some exciting nine year old news, before telling me who was here.  Turned out I was responsible for him, his sister E (7) and their friend T (10).  Which was fine.

Showed my silver medal from yesterday to my grandsons, B and J (who was with his mum to drop off the others).  They were suitably admiring of it, though B had to first make sure that this was a medal that wasn't given out to everyone who played (ie that it actually was an award).  Which shows me that, for some kids at least, mere baubles don't count, things have to actually mean something.  I think they were both happy for me, and proud.  Awww.

I helped all three kids get their hire skates adjusted.  We must be getting pretty good at it because, an hour and a half later, none of them had any new blisters.  The unspoken lesson?  If there's a problem, it's usually the skater, not the skate.

Having got the kids sorted, they were off to the ice and I got to put all the shoes and jackets and bags in a neat secure pile.  I then headed out to the big rink, was about to get on, when remembered that I better go and let the kids know our 'plan' for the day (especially T, who didn't really know me, and whom of which I didn't know how well she could skate (ie how much I would need to be on hand)).  So, it was do a double take and head to the small ice instead.

I knew B was fine as a skater.  It took about a millisecond to see that E has now graduated to 'self managing' on the ice also.  Was glad to see T seemed to know something about ice skating, albeit she was hanging onto the edge as she worked her way around.  I had a little chat with her, she seemed quite comfortable doing what she was doing, so I let her know that I'd hang around on the small ice awhile to make sure she was okay and then we'd see how we'd work the rest of our time here.  I watched her do a couple laps (in between checking E and B) and then head off the boards and concentrate on keeping upright as she went around.  She was fine.

Relieved, I let the kids know what I was up to and headed out to the big ice.