Skater

Ice Skating

Avery and I went ice skating on Monday afternoon.  Upon entering the mall, where the indoor ice rink is located, Avery was thoroughly excited.  She was still excited when she saw the rink and the kids on the rink.  She was still excited as we laced up the skates.  She was still excited when she walked on the skates to the rink.  This is where she lost her enthusiasm.  She put one foot on the ice, felt it was slippery and spent the next 15-20 minutes clinging to the railing while standing just off the edge of the ice.  There was about an hour left of open skate time, so I decided mentally that I wasn't going to force her to do it, but I was going to spend that entire time attempting to convince her to at least try it.

Finally, when I saw she was wearing down a little bit, I offered some ice cream as a treat for trying it and that broke her.  We got on the ice and skated an entire lap.  I held both of her hands the whole time.  She would have fallen several times had I not been holding on, but she also faked a few of those falls once she realized that I would catch her.

I was so very proud that she made her way onto the ice despite her obvious fear.  I was also proud that I hung in there in convincing her to try it because after we left the rink, all she could talk about was how brave she was to try it and how proud she was that she did it "all by myself!"  I corrected her and said it wasn't all by herself since she was holding my hands, but I did tell her she was very brave indeed.

She says she wants to go again, but I suspect that enthusiasm is much the same as her initial enthusiasm and would once again wane the moment we got near the ice.  I think I'll give it 3-4 months, or until she specifically brings up the activity.

Movie recap

• Crazy, Stupid, Love = loved it
• Project Nim = an excellent documentary even though I sobbed, like openly sobbed, for about a minute in the middle of it.  After the movie ended, I had to wipe off the mascara that ran down my face.  Fuckin' humans. 
• The Perfect Host = strange, but kept my attention.  Until Christie and I saw the trailer for this movie at the beginning of another movie, I'd never heard of it, made in 2010 and starring David Hyde Pierce of Frasier fame. For whatever reason, I decided I wanted to actually rent it.  We were able to get it via Video on Demand from Amazon.  Very strange.  There's not much else to say about it. 
• Conan O'Brien Can't Stop = pretty funny and pretty good.  More so than the comedy or the story, I liked that Conan was willing to let all sides of his personality be shown, including parts that might be seen as less than likable.
• Winnie the Pooh = it was a good movie for kids.  Probably a great one.  Avery seemed to really like it.  However, it was oh-so-age-appropriate for a 3yo.  I was bored stiff.  Not only did D fall asleep and I spent ½ the movie reading news on my phone, so did one of the dads behind me.  I know because I wanted to make sure my phone reading wouldn't bother anyone behind me, but turned around only to discover many sleeping parents.

Memories

When I was a kid, I used to help my mom prepare her room each year for school.  I'd help put up bulletin boards, or cut out borders, or arrange desks, or collate writing-practice sheets, laminate things, etc.  I loved to do all that stuff.  Yet, I do not remember it ever crossing my mind that I might become a teacher.  Because the only thing I wanted to do was help to prepare the room, not to actually teach or do any actual work involved in teaching.

I'd kind of forgotten about this part of my life - and it was a pretty significant chunk of my summers from 5th grade through my HS years - until someone at the company party we hosted the other day saying to me, "You must be a teacher."  This was the comment after observing all the little labels and signs I have around the house.  Avery's sleeping chart, reward tickets & certificates, the recycling labeling, etc.  Man, if I'd had a Silhouette when Mom was teaching, it would have been a whole different ball game.