Is age 2 too young? Fun at Lexington Ice Center. See map below for directions.
“Caroline, would you like to go ice skating?” Our daughter Marnie asked her two year old daughter. It wasn’t an unreasonable question. Caroline seems to have inherited her mom and dad’s athletic ability. And we read all the time about children who strap on a pair of skates and seemingly in no time (add years of private lessons and a sparkly skating outfit) turn into the next Michelle Kwan. For her part Caroline was thrilled and talked all day long about going ice skating. Marnie even bought a pair of new little gloves for Caroline to wear.
After dinner we drove to the indoor ice arena here in Lexington. The plan was that Marnie and I (who grew up in North Idaho – skating on our family’s frozen pond each winter) would hold Caroline’s hands until she could navigate the ice on her own. Kathy, who grew up in California, and whose athletic prowess extends to speed reading, came along as the paparazzi.
We paid for our admission and our skates. Caroline was very excited. I think parents and grandparents are almost always as excited as our little ones themselves when we can introduce the kids to a wonderful new adventure. We put on our skates. We stuffed Caroline’s feet into her skates too and laced them up. We helped her onto the ice.
Only then the Olympic dream went awry. Caroline’s little legs looked like cooked spaghetti. Her ankles hurt. She didn’t fall, but only because Marnie and I had a firm grip on her arms. We got about a tenth of the way around the ice when Caroline’s cries forced us to stop (that and the stares of the other skaters. We weren’t abusing the kid, for heaven’s sake! This was supposed to be fun!) Caroline then sat by Grammy and watched while Marnie and I skated. This whole skating thing is a lot more work than I remember from my days back on the farm.
We went home and all slept soundly. Yes, age 2 is probably too young to skate. Maybe next year….
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