First skate

Just a quick entry. We met up with Sam, Woody, Max and Van on Sunday morning and went skating. We bought Van a pair of bob skates (two bladed strap on beginner skates). When we were at the sports store we did eye the hockey skates but decided they would probably be a tad big and it would be better to start with the bobs. I was actually surprised that there were hockey skates as small as a size 6. They were so cute and almost irresistible! In any event, we got to the park and of course Van just wanted to play in the snow. He really didn't understand why we had to pin him down while struggling to attach something to his boots, much crying and struggling ensued. After 10 minutes we finally managed to get the damn things attached. He continued crying until he actually began to feel the sensation of sliding on the ice. Then he was all smiles and giggles. Not sure we'll be tackling this again anytime soon though. I think he really is a bit too young. Not so much for the skating per se but for the time and effort it takes to get him ready for the actual skating. At 17 months old he still has no concept of time or future experiences. So telling him that once we get these skates on he can skate and have fun is useless lol. To him it is a case of mommy and daddy torturing him when really all he wants to do is toddle around in the snow. I am one of these parents that feels really awful when my child cries. I know I know, no parent likes to see their children crying but that it comes with the territory. They can get past the crying and know that once the child is distracted they will be fine. Me on the other hand has these visions of my child in therapy as an adult talking about his first traumatic skating experience and as a result just the mere sight of skates causes him to recline into a fetal position and rock back and forth. Hehe.

Anyway, here he is with daddy. Future hockey player? One can only dream :)