First Skate

I’ve been feeling kind of out of touch with Sam lately.  We’ve spent quite a bit of time together after my being so busy at work, but it wasn’t quite hitting the spot. 

I decided to put a little more forethought into my time with him today (Wednesday – my favourite day of the week).  We arranged it so Ben would take care of Natty, leaving Sam and I free reign.

We put on our snowsuits and headed out.  Two streetcars (one with a cool underground tunnel!) and one subway later, we were at Toronto’s harbourfront.  I love it there.

Before we made it to our intended destination, we found a train. 

We played for awhile, and Sammy could have played for much longer.  But I shuffled us out toward the lake.  Which was cool-grey beautiful.

I then turned to show Sam the outdoor skating rink.  We happened to arrive during maintenance period, which meant a zamboni was on the ice.  We watched for awhile, then rented some skates.

Sam’s first time.  My first time in 10 years – maybe more?  Our first time together.

Sam wasn’t altogether impressed when he realized the skates were hard to stand on.

He was very unimpressed when he realized the skates are very hard to skate on. 

I did a wobbly mini-circuit on the ice, which was almost empty of people.  Went back to Sam, who ventured onto the ice, slipped, complained, and clung to the edge. 

Off on my own a couple of more times.  Back to Sam, who agreed to let me support him under the arms while I basically led/carried him along the ice.  More whining.  I wasn’t that surprised.  He’s not a dive-in head-first personality.  More of a don’t-rush-me-and-I’ll-get-there type.

Then the kids arrived – it must have been a school trip.  Or five, because there were like a hundred children.  Older than Sam but not by much.  Yelling, laughing.  Skating.  Everywhere.  Fast.  Falling.  Up again.

Sam visibly perked up with their arrival.  I think he needed to see this could be fun, for kids.  He didn’t need to be cajolled to go another round.  He slipped, he fell, he whined, but not as much as before, and he was able to move a little better on the ice.  We sat down to rest.   

Then he quietly initiated:  ”I want to go again.”  We did one more big circuit. 

It was pretty much time to go.  I changed our skates into boots outside so Sam could watch for awhile more.  He didn’t want to leave. 

It wasn’t perfect.  It was a start.  We’ll get some skates and a helmet, we’ll go again, and we’ll learn to skate.

We went home where we baked my first successful loaf of bread made with yeast, which is part of the One Small Change challenge I’ve set up for myself this month.  Sam was on much surer footing here, as he loves to cook and is confident about it. 

We took Natty shopping at a couple of grocery stores and then dropped him off with Daddy again.  Out we went for a kiddie cup of Bacio (chocolate hazelnut) ice cream at Ed’s Real Scoop (made from scratch with natural ingredients).  Yum.

Photo credit:  Sheryl Kirby

And finally to the library, where we picked up a host of new books and are waiting patiently for Lyle, Lyle Crocodile to find its way back to us.

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