December 2nd

Last night was the night Alex had been waiting for. I had told him that once the ice rinks opened and his Thursday night park district class ended, I would take him ice skating while Clara was in dance. There is a really nice rink about a 5-10 minute walk from her dance class that we discovered a little too late in the season last year (I took him once last year about 2 days before the rinks all closed for the season). He was so anxious to get out there.... and I think, over the warm months, his memory of his skating ability got a little skewed :-) He did really well last year for his first time out ever, but I think in his mind, he was near pro! The first 10/15 minutes he was out on the ice was a little humbling for him, but with practice and some tips from one of the adults out there, he was flying across the ice in no time...


He loved it and we plan on making this a regular outing after the first of the year... we've already talked to a few friends about meeting us there to skate occasionally. Which fits with my new plan for the first of the year to scale back structured activities so we have more time for family and friends. I fell into the trap of being overly scheduled there for a while.... but now I realize that although they're only 9 and 10, we're over halfway through the time we have them at home with us (in theory). I really don't want their main memories of childhood to be of them being shuttled from place to place. We're not going crazy and cutting everything... but finding a nice balance. This may end up being our biggest Christmas gift to ourselves! :-)