Getting Reacquainted With Child-Like Fun

roller_blades
Originally uploaded by cris76blue

Want to know what is going on today? Mark is at a business meeting and Sheldon and I are at home enjoying our morning. Today is the day, the day that I go roller blading with my son. Sheldon is trying to improve his skate, and mom is attempting to overcome her fear.

So, I bravely put on my rollerblades for the first (well second) time. Before we venture outside, I practice for a few seconds to make sure I have my balance. Then it was to the kitchen floor, everything okay here; I can skate back and forth. Next, onto the patio, for more balance practice. Yep, I can stand without falling.

Now, opening the door. Standing on the porch--still everything is okay as I am still standing. Okay, I take the plunge and push off, glide for less than a second, run into a bush, desperately try to maintain my balance, but despite my best efforts, I fall. Now, laughing and crawling as I am trying to gracefully stand up with no success. I crawl to the grass and somehow manage to stand once again. Sheldon and I are continuing to laugh. If someone saw this magnificent fall, I am oblivious to their laughter, but I assure they are rolling on the floor laughing. Now, we head out to the sidewalk area. I am very shaky, and I anticipate my next fall. Will it hurt? Oh, now I am gliding back and forth and gaining my confidence with every glide. Wow, this is fun and I believe I have the hang of it. No more falls for me (at least not for today). We are now rollerblading!

I am immediately drawn back to the first time I tried on a pair of roller blades. It was six years ago! I had the rollerblades on and said, "Oh, this is easy." I fell and landed so hard that I bruised the palm of my hand. What is even funnier is that we hadn't even left the store. The salesperson tried hard not to laugh, but I truly was a sight. Despite my fall, we purchased the rollerblades. However, before we left the mall, doubt and fear prevailed, and we returned the rollerblades. Mark and I still laugh about this little episode. Every since that day, I developed a healthy aversion for roller blades, and I was not in any hurry to buy another pair.

Thanks to my husband, I received a pair for Christmas. As you can tell, it has taken me quite sometime to work up my courage to try roller blading again. After our little adventure, I feel as if I have been reacquainted with the little girl that loved to roller skate. I am glad to say that even though I fell, there was no way I was going to give up. I was going to conquer my fear, and I succeeded! Even though we skated close to home, it was still great fun. Sheldon and I are looking forward to taking it to the park. Yes, I believe I can fly! Now, we are off to play with his science kit. Hopefully, we will not blow up the backyard!

P.S. Now for the update. We took our rollerblades out for a second time and glad to report no falls, but I still have a ways to go before I am completely confident.