All Skated Out

I have not done this much skateboarding in years. Soul Brother #2 and I have skated and skated and skated since seeing Malba on Saturday. The child is still gun shy about going to a skatepark. He fears the critical gazes and comments from those who would make fun of him for being a newbie who can barely skate. But let me tell you this kid has come a long way since Saturday. The little boy who couldn't stand on a board on his own is now kicking and pushing, practicing turns and generally looking comfortable on a skateboard.

He's made it clear that he wants to practice. We tried to get our skate on in front of the house. That didn't work because the sidewalk is too uneven and bumpy. (I won't let him skate in the street since we are not off the beaten path.) Since he won't go to the skatepark yet, I was trying to figure out where we can get our skate on without having to worry about the surface and traffic. That's when I remembered a large concrete opening at the home break. I'm not sure what that space is used for. It's wide open, yet barricaded from cars. This, then, has become our skate spot of choice. We can freely skate and practice there without worrying about much of anything except the John Deere-like riding mowers spewing grass cuttings everywhere.

We've skated there two days in a row. Today, we went straight there after I picked him up from school with lunch and a change of clothes (since he wears a uniform). We do a little talking, do a little skating, rinse and repeat. And now, my legs are on fire from having skated so much. This evening, I talked to Tuma about lessons simply because Malba is so far away. There will be days when he won't want to meet us halfway and I can guarantee there will be days when I won't want to brave traffic just for a lesson. Now I've found someone whom I believe Soul Brother #2 will warm up to as quickly as he did to Malba.

Today was one of those days when I surfed in the morning and skated in the afternoon. My legs are unhappily still attached to my body. They hurt. Malba told me to work on tic tacs (tick tacks?) and I've done that. He told me to do 30 consecutive kickturns on the ramp. I've done that too. My skating is improving by leaps and bounds if only because someone has told me things I can do to improve.

I suppose we will keep doing the skate lesson thing for awhile. It's helping my child's confidence and it's bringing my skill level up quite rapidly.

Pray for surf and uncrowded skateparks.