Roller skating good family fun

C

hristmas can now begin, it’s official.

I have shovelled, gone sledding, cut down a Christmas tree, sent Christmas cards (almost) and done (a little) shopping. Also, this season, I went roller skating for the first time in 20 years.

Last weekend, my husband and I took the kids to a Christmas party held at the Roll-A-Dome.

This was the first time that I’ve been in the Roll-A-Dome since LA Promotions joined the venue and it was excellent. Bouncy castles and slides, yelling, screaming, crafts, Santa and roller skating under one roof led to a bit of over-stimulation for mom and dad, but our kids had so much fun they were vibrating with excitement.

As for the roller skating, I’m happy to report that it wasn’t a complete disaster.

Normally, when I attempt a sport or an activity that I haven’t done in a fair number of years, my brain completely misrepresents my previous talent at the activity.

For instance, during the rollerblading excitement of the early ’90s, I received a pair of rollerblades (plus all of the safety equipment, thanks mom!)

I diligently roller-bladed for exactly one summer, maybe two, and then never touched them again.

Fast-forward to 10 years later and I’m a teen and I find a pair of rollerblades in the closet of my grandmother’s house when we were visiting them in their seaside town.

So naturally, I was an expert and proceeded to rollerblade down a steep hill. It did not go well.

Fast-forward to a family Christmas celebration at Silver Star Resort in Vernon. They have a skating rink there and I ice-skated as a kid so clearly, it would be fine. It really wasn’t.

Ice skating is not like riding a bike.

Happily, old-fashioned roller-skating was not as bad as I anticipated. In fact, I may even go again.

Our son was really keen on going skating so we got him laced up and we practiced on the carpeted area for a while.

It seemed like he was going to be an expert so then we laced up the toddler too.

Once we got out to the rink, our son seemed to forget how to stand and had to be fully supported by an adult at all times and he still fell.

Our daughter didn’t like the feeling of the skates, so she had to be carried and the roller skates added ten pounds of dead weight to her little stick legs.

Even with a pair of skates on my own feet, I was able to carry the baby, skateslowly while holding on to one of my son’s hands while his daddy held the other. Chaotic, but fun.

It’s less than two weeks before Christmas and I hope that everyone in Prince George is able to take the time to have a bit of silly fun before the excesses of the holiday season settle in.