Owen's at Skating lessons. Mom isn't.

I'm super excited this morning that Owen is at his first class of the learn to skate program at the local arena. As my devoted readers will remember, I'm a big skating enthusiast and we had Owen on skates before his second birthday. I'm also, it turns out, a bit of a stage parent when it comes to skating. Every time we take the kids to the rink and I take Owen out on the ice, Andy needs to tell me to calm down. Owen's still not a strong skater (come on! he's nearly 4) which causes me great stress. If he's going to be great he needs to be doing backwards crossovers, like, yesterday.... And this is why Andy is taking him to the learn to skate program, not me. Eli and I are enjoying some low-expectations Thomas the Tank Engine and coffee. And I am waiting eagerly for the report on the lessons. I really want Owen to love ice skating. I joke about making him a great figure or hockey skater, but the truth is I don't really care whether he ever gets any good at anything. Normal, moderately successful and happy are more or less the sum total of my goals for my children. But, I do hope that both of them enjoy ice skating because I enjoy ice skating, and it's something we can share. As a mom of two boys, and not likely to have any girls, I sometimes worry that in a house of 3 men Andy and the kids will have lots to share and enjoy together where as I'll be chief lunch packer, carpool driver and homework helper. I think part of pushing the kids into skating is so that we'll have something we can legitimately enjoy together. And of course, I do realize that I need to not push too hard! That's the best way I know of to get kids to hate whatever you're trying to get them to do and possibly you (Tiger Mother's opinions on the matter are not shared by me). But, I did recently join an adult women's hockey team (ha! yes, I really did. The Salisbury Stingers. I'm joining the season late but I skate with them for the first time tomorrow. We'll see if I can still walk afterward...) and I think it would be really fun if the boys do develop an appreciation for hockey. I feel like it's something our whole family can share. And I can't wait to hear how skating lessons went this morning!