Quin Skating

Quin started his much anticipated ice skating lessons a few weeks ago. It is important to understand how much excitement has surrounded the notion of Quin ice skating (at least from Gwen; not so much from Tim). Not long after Carl and Gwen moved to Colorado, Gwen excitedly mentioned to us that Quin could start skating once he turned 4. Of course, I have kept that in mind for the last two and a half years, but wasn't 100% when/if he would skate. Well, for the past two years, Gwen has participated in Winter Wishes, an ice skating show put on by the city of Fort Collins every December; every year Quin has watched GG skate and thought it was wonderful.

Since Quin is now 4, we decided that Quin could try skating if he wanted to. Of course he did!! Our kid will try anything! Well, I have to say that not everything a 4 year old does is met with as much enthusiasm as parents expect. For Quin, skating didn't seem to be everything it was cracked up to be. His first lesson began off the ice, with the kids figuring out how to get up off their rear ends (because inevitably that is where you end up a good part of the time). Once Quin was on the ice, he entertained himself by digging his heel and toe pick into the ice. Perhaps he was trying to dig through the ice to see what we below it? Needless to say, the remainder of the initial lesson continued this way.

Lesson #2 was a bit better. He tried to stay standing, but was still less than thrilled to be on the ice. A few days after his disastrous second lesson, we had auditions for Winter Wishes. I am not really sure why I bothered to take him, knowing that he wasn't overly thrilled with it, but we went. Just as the case was with his previous two experiences on the ice, he wasn't overly thrilled. After spending a half an hour on the ice, we decided that he isn't ready for Winter Wishes this year. There is always next year (if he wants to).

Lesson #3 actually proved to be a lot more enjoyable for Quin. He got out on the ice, really tried to stay standing, had fun (which, after all, is all I care about), and was sad when the lesson had to end. This was progress!

Yesterday, Gwen took Quin skating for an hour so he could practice, and he loved it! He was so excited not only to be skating, but that he got to do it with GG! He really showed a lot of improvement in the short hour that they spent together. Now, he is getting comfortable moving around with baby steps on the ice and was very proud of himself.

All I want is for him to enjoy whatever it is that he chooses to do and to do his best. Yesterday, he gave it everything he could and really had fun. As far as lessons go, he has one more left for this session (tomorrow). We are signed up for the next session, but I think I will let him decide if he would like to continue or not.