It's Time Warp Tuesday - a Bereaved and Blessed blog-hop in which writers are asked to revisit a previous post and reflect on the journey they've taken since then. Today's topic is "mothering" and, by chance, exactly one year ago today I wrote a post about my (un)official title as the "Best Mom in the Whole World" - a title I may or may not still hold depending on which of my children you speak to in any given moment in time.
Certainly, from Sk8terdude's perspective, I've done a pretty decent job in the Sk8termom category. We've been on several skateboarding road trips since last May, including the biggie to SkatePark of Tampa in February. We went to the Streetleague championship last August (despite the last-minute change of date due to the impending hurricane!). I've spent countless hours sitting in parent lounges, videotaping, editing, and posting to this blog and, for the most part, I've done it with a fairly good attitude, considering the fact that in a million years I never would have anticipated being the mom of a skateboarder.
But we've also had some not-so-great moments this year, including Sk8terdude's latest trip to the orthopedist yesterday afternoon for what turns out to be yet another broken bone...in the pinky of his right hand.
Don't ask me how many bones he's already broken, because I've truly lost count. (For those of you considering letting your kids skateboard, the non-skateboarding injuries still outnumber the skateboarding ones, but not by much...). So after years of people cracking jokes about bubble-wrapping him for safety, I'm starting to wonder: am I being the best mom by continuing to support his love of skateboarding? Or would I really earn the "best mom" title by putting my foot down and forcing him to give up his passion?
With Mother's Day in plain sight, and with a look back at the last 12 months, I have to wonder what's really in his best interest long-term.
It was downright embarrassing to show up at the orthopedist's office yesterday. And I haven't called either set of grandparents to tell them because, honestly, I don't want to hear their reactions. (I won't be able to hide for long. My in-laws will be arriving in two weeks for a short visit - and Sk8terdude will still have a purple cast. My guess is they will notice!)
In preparation for a workshop I'll be running in June, I recently asked a group of parents to tell me what keeps them up at night. One mom said she worried that she would be "blinded by love and not see something right in front of [her] eyes that would prevent the expected outcome of raising happy, confident, compassionate, and wise children."
Now I'm not sleeping at night, either...but maybe that up-all-night-worrying is the essence of motherhood.
"View from the Parent Lounge" is a reflection on life as the parent of a skateboarder, typed mostly while waiting for him to skate at various skateparks, indoor and outdoor, throughout the country.
Showing posts with label Street League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Street League. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Estrogen in the House
After a fun morning with Sk8tergrandma (first visiting The Raptor Trust, then doing a skateboard-related art project), we arrived at GardenSk8 at the appointed hour (according to the website, they opened at 3 p.m. today), only to find the lights off and nobody home.
Well, technically, there was a guy servicing the vending machines and another guy (friend of the owner) skating inside, but we were told there was no one working and they weren't sure if the place would be open today because it was the owner's son's birthday. Hey, as a mom, I totally get the importance of birthday celebrations. But would it have been so difficult to post a note on the website if they weren't planning to open?
Fortunately for us, the skater called one of the guys who works here and we were told they would be open shortly and Sk8terdude could go ahead and start skating, which he did.
So I set myself up in the ubiquitous parent lounge (warmer than last December but not as warm as yesterday!), turned on my computer, and then, before I could really get started, in walked C & J, two adorable girls, long hair flowing out from under their helmets.
I've written before about barriers to entry for girls who want to skateboard, so I was interested to hear what the girls, both sixth graders, had to say. I assumed that most girls who skate start out with older brothers who skate. To my surprise, C & J told me that their initial interest in skateboarding came from the Naked Brothers Band and, specifically, Alex Wolff, who skateboarded on (and, presumably, off) the show!
So around age six C was given a small skateboard and a mini-ramp from Toys'R'Us for Christmas. She tried to skate on her own. Last year a google search turned up the fact that GardenSk8 was located less than 30 minutes from their hometown. C took some lessons, convinced J to tag along, and a passion for the sport was ignited.
Both girls are familiar with Girls Riders Organization and attended their event here at GardenSk8 last summer. They also attended the Streetleague finals in New Jersey last summer. But neither girl was able to name any women pro-skaters. C said that for vert she likes Andy Macdonald and Bob Burnquist and for street she likes Paul Rodriguez and Ryan Scheckler.
Beyond skateboarding, the girls say they've both played soccer and basketball, they participate in gymnastics, and they've both taken dance. And they both agree that C is a bit more of a "tomboy" than J. They were delightful, articulate, and happy to talk about their lives as skateboarders. [When I said I wouldn't/couldn't put their names or faces on the blog without their parents' permission, they asked me if I would still be here when C's mom picks them up so I could ask.]
Happily, both girls report that they've never been hassled about being skateboarders and that the boys have always been nice and accepting of them. I hope that their passion for skateboarding won't be squelched as they move into those teen years, when being different becomes more difficult for so many. And both girls acknowledged that it would be great to have women role models to follow... who knows, if they keep skating, maybe someday in the future younger girls will be talking about the two of them as role models!
In the meantime, I was just happy to see a little estrogen in the house.
Many thanks to Sk8terdude for willingly giving up the "spotlight" for this post!
Well, technically, there was a guy servicing the vending machines and another guy (friend of the owner) skating inside, but we were told there was no one working and they weren't sure if the place would be open today because it was the owner's son's birthday. Hey, as a mom, I totally get the importance of birthday celebrations. But would it have been so difficult to post a note on the website if they weren't planning to open?
Fortunately for us, the skater called one of the guys who works here and we were told they would be open shortly and Sk8terdude could go ahead and start skating, which he did.
So I set myself up in the ubiquitous parent lounge (warmer than last December but not as warm as yesterday!), turned on my computer, and then, before I could really get started, in walked C & J, two adorable girls, long hair flowing out from under their helmets.
I've written before about barriers to entry for girls who want to skateboard, so I was interested to hear what the girls, both sixth graders, had to say. I assumed that most girls who skate start out with older brothers who skate. To my surprise, C & J told me that their initial interest in skateboarding came from the Naked Brothers Band and, specifically, Alex Wolff, who skateboarded on (and, presumably, off) the show!
So around age six C was given a small skateboard and a mini-ramp from Toys'R'Us for Christmas. She tried to skate on her own. Last year a google search turned up the fact that GardenSk8 was located less than 30 minutes from their hometown. C took some lessons, convinced J to tag along, and a passion for the sport was ignited.
Both girls are familiar with Girls Riders Organization and attended their event here at GardenSk8 last summer. They also attended the Streetleague finals in New Jersey last summer. But neither girl was able to name any women pro-skaters. C said that for vert she likes Andy Macdonald and Bob Burnquist and for street she likes Paul Rodriguez and Ryan Scheckler.
Beyond skateboarding, the girls say they've both played soccer and basketball, they participate in gymnastics, and they've both taken dance. And they both agree that C is a bit more of a "tomboy" than J. They were delightful, articulate, and happy to talk about their lives as skateboarders. [When I said I wouldn't/couldn't put their names or faces on the blog without their parents' permission, they asked me if I would still be here when C's mom picks them up so I could ask.]
Happily, both girls report that they've never been hassled about being skateboarders and that the boys have always been nice and accepting of them. I hope that their passion for skateboarding won't be squelched as they move into those teen years, when being different becomes more difficult for so many. And both girls acknowledged that it would be great to have women role models to follow... who knows, if they keep skating, maybe someday in the future younger girls will be talking about the two of them as role models!
In the meantime, I was just happy to see a little estrogen in the house.
Many thanks to Sk8terdude for willingly giving up the "spotlight" for this post!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
I'm So Blue (as in COLD...not sad!)
If you've been paying attention, you may have noticed that it's been several months, one hurricane, and one freak October snowstorm since I last posted on this blog.
There are several reasons for my absence.
First, the Streetleague Skateboarding competition was AWESOME! So awesome, in fact, that I had tons I wanted to say about it and a gazillion photos to post. But Hurricane Irene arrived and our power went out (along with most of the Northeast), and by the time our power was restored, I couldn't recreate the post I had been planning. Then, after an unexpected one week delay, school began, and suddenly I was too busy (and too tired) to write. And one thing led to another, and I fell out of the habit, and suddenly this blog was in serious need of updating...
And then Sk8terdude took a tumble on the last run of a beautiful blue sky morning at Jennings Beach and suddenly we were out of skating for a few weeks while he nursed a broken thumb...and before he could fully recover from the thumb, he fell going UP the stairs at our house...and broke a toe...and he broke it in such a way that he couldn't put weight on it, which meant yet another cast, and crutches, and by the time we were done (last week), he had been out of skating for three entire months.
So I haven't had much to say...until today.
It's holiday time and school is out of session and I promised Sk8terdude he could get back into the parks with some serious board time. But with Vertigo and Haven both out of business, Connecticut in the cold weather is not exactly a skater's paradise. So Sk8terdad took him over to 2nd Nature the other day for a few hours and then I packed up and made the trip to New Jersey for two days of indoor skating. (Why New Jersey? Free lodging courtesy of Sk8tergrandma!)
Yesterday I spent 3 1/2 hours at Shields Skatepark in Flemington, New Jersey. With approximately 18,000 square feet of space, the park was a great place for an extended session - for Sk8terdude. For me, not so much.
The "parent lounge" (and I use the term VERY loosely) consisted of a few tables and some metal folding chairs just outside the fence that keeps the skaters separated from the skateshop, hallway, bathrooms, etc. Since the space isn't separated, it's maintained at the same temperature as the rest of the park which, yesterday, was just barely above 50 degrees fahrenheit.
If you've never spent a few hours sitting on a cold metal chair in that temperature, without a coat, hat, or gloves, well, I don't recommend you try it. Even the mom who DID have a hat and gloves left to drive over to Wal-Mart (conveniently around the corner) so she could buy warmer socks. For the first time in my life, I truly understood the phrase "catch a chill."
It took HOURS for me to thaw. Seriously. And that was after riding in a car for 45 minutes with the heat cranked all the way up to 75 and the heat seater on high and several more hours in the house with the heat at a normal temperature and at least an hour in bed under two blankets and a comforter.
And just when I thought I had finally defrosted, we arrived - today - at our second destination: GardenSk8.
This is our second trip to GardenSk8, but our first since they expanded, adding a second section which Sk8terdude assures me is "sick!" Last time we were here it was during a horrible ice storm, but we took refuge up the road, visiting Sk8tercousins who live nearby. Today I thought I would just unpack the laptop, settle into the sofa, and get some work done.
Yeah, right.
Because once again I am freezing my you-know-what off...
My nose is running, I can no longer feel my toes (and I am wearing a thick pair of socks), and in between sentences I have to put on a pair of gloves and wait until my fingers are warm enough to keep typing.
I asked the guy (owner? manager?? dude hanging out in the office???) - only sort of joking - if they didn't have a space heater or something they could rent out to the frozen parents suffering on the sofas. And he seriously thought I was out of my mind.
Okay, I understand that they can't afford to heat the entire warehouse to a comfortable temperature for sitting around and, even if they could, it would be too warm for the sweaty skaters.
But here's what I don't understand. In order to survive, all skateparks have to hope that new generations of kids learn to skate. And until those kids are old enough to drive, the skateparks have to depend on parents willing to drive them. And for those of us who need to wait while our kids are skating (either because we live too far away or because our kids are too young to be dropped off and left on their own), we would appreciate just a little consideration!
I'd be much more likely to stay longer, visit more often, and spend more money at a park that at least pretended to care about my comfort. A simple space heater would do the trick (and at this rate I might invest in my own and bring it with me in the future)...even a blanket would be nice....
Is it too much to ask?
There are several reasons for my absence.
First, the Streetleague Skateboarding competition was AWESOME! So awesome, in fact, that I had tons I wanted to say about it and a gazillion photos to post. But Hurricane Irene arrived and our power went out (along with most of the Northeast), and by the time our power was restored, I couldn't recreate the post I had been planning. Then, after an unexpected one week delay, school began, and suddenly I was too busy (and too tired) to write. And one thing led to another, and I fell out of the habit, and suddenly this blog was in serious need of updating...
And then Sk8terdude took a tumble on the last run of a beautiful blue sky morning at Jennings Beach and suddenly we were out of skating for a few weeks while he nursed a broken thumb...and before he could fully recover from the thumb, he fell going UP the stairs at our house...and broke a toe...and he broke it in such a way that he couldn't put weight on it, which meant yet another cast, and crutches, and by the time we were done (last week), he had been out of skating for three entire months.
So I haven't had much to say...until today.
It's holiday time and school is out of session and I promised Sk8terdude he could get back into the parks with some serious board time. But with Vertigo and Haven both out of business, Connecticut in the cold weather is not exactly a skater's paradise. So Sk8terdad took him over to 2nd Nature the other day for a few hours and then I packed up and made the trip to New Jersey for two days of indoor skating. (Why New Jersey? Free lodging courtesy of Sk8tergrandma!)
Yesterday I spent 3 1/2 hours at Shields Skatepark in Flemington, New Jersey. With approximately 18,000 square feet of space, the park was a great place for an extended session - for Sk8terdude. For me, not so much.
The "parent lounge" (and I use the term VERY loosely) consisted of a few tables and some metal folding chairs just outside the fence that keeps the skaters separated from the skateshop, hallway, bathrooms, etc. Since the space isn't separated, it's maintained at the same temperature as the rest of the park which, yesterday, was just barely above 50 degrees fahrenheit.
If you've never spent a few hours sitting on a cold metal chair in that temperature, without a coat, hat, or gloves, well, I don't recommend you try it. Even the mom who DID have a hat and gloves left to drive over to Wal-Mart (conveniently around the corner) so she could buy warmer socks. For the first time in my life, I truly understood the phrase "catch a chill."
It took HOURS for me to thaw. Seriously. And that was after riding in a car for 45 minutes with the heat cranked all the way up to 75 and the heat seater on high and several more hours in the house with the heat at a normal temperature and at least an hour in bed under two blankets and a comforter.
And just when I thought I had finally defrosted, we arrived - today - at our second destination: GardenSk8.
This is our second trip to GardenSk8, but our first since they expanded, adding a second section which Sk8terdude assures me is "sick!" Last time we were here it was during a horrible ice storm, but we took refuge up the road, visiting Sk8tercousins who live nearby. Today I thought I would just unpack the laptop, settle into the sofa, and get some work done.
Yeah, right.
Because once again I am freezing my you-know-what off...
My nose is running, I can no longer feel my toes (and I am wearing a thick pair of socks), and in between sentences I have to put on a pair of gloves and wait until my fingers are warm enough to keep typing.
I asked the guy (owner? manager?? dude hanging out in the office???) - only sort of joking - if they didn't have a space heater or something they could rent out to the frozen parents suffering on the sofas. And he seriously thought I was out of my mind.
Okay, I understand that they can't afford to heat the entire warehouse to a comfortable temperature for sitting around and, even if they could, it would be too warm for the sweaty skaters.
But here's what I don't understand. In order to survive, all skateparks have to hope that new generations of kids learn to skate. And until those kids are old enough to drive, the skateparks have to depend on parents willing to drive them. And for those of us who need to wait while our kids are skating (either because we live too far away or because our kids are too young to be dropped off and left on their own), we would appreciate just a little consideration!
I'd be much more likely to stay longer, visit more often, and spend more money at a park that at least pretended to care about my comfort. A simple space heater would do the trick (and at this rate I might invest in my own and bring it with me in the future)...even a blanket would be nice....
Is it too much to ask?
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Skateboarding Shutdown
Okay, technically, skateboarding has not been shut down. But in the aftermath of Hurrican Irene, we have no power, no water, and no easy Internet access. I'm preserving I-phone usage for important texts and updates on local conditions (like the welcome news that the nearest Starbucks re-opened this morning). Once power is fully restored I will post photos and an update from our trip to see the Streetleague finals in New Jersey.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Board Slides and Big Strides
Sk8terdude is picking up new skills faster than I can pick up the new terminology!
Today he came home from the skatepark and announced that he had "homework." He needs to practice his boardslides (a new addition to his repertoire) and he needs to practice "pushing switch."
For those of you who don't speak skateboard, a boardslide means he is olleying - jumping his board up onto a rail - and sliding along the rail on the bottom of the skateboard deck with the sets of wheels on either side. "Switch" means that he is skating with his opposite foot forward. Usually he skates with his left foot forward and uses his right to push on the ground. When he skates "switch" he is skating "goofy" with his right foot forward. When he is "pushing switch" he has his right foot forward and he's using his left foot to push on the ground to gain momentum.
He also dropped in switch today on the two-foot quarterpipe.
Watching skateboarding on television recently (I think it was the Streetleague Seattle competition, but I'm not positive), I heard a commentator say that soon we won't be referring to switch tricks. They predict that in the near future all pro skaters will be able to skate their tricks in both directions.
Or something like that.
As I mentioned, I'm having enough trouble keeping up with the big strides Sk8terdude is making as a skateboarder. Also keeping up with advancements in the field might be more than I can handle...
Today he came home from the skatepark and announced that he had "homework." He needs to practice his boardslides (a new addition to his repertoire) and he needs to practice "pushing switch."
For those of you who don't speak skateboard, a boardslide means he is olleying - jumping his board up onto a rail - and sliding along the rail on the bottom of the skateboard deck with the sets of wheels on either side. "Switch" means that he is skating with his opposite foot forward. Usually he skates with his left foot forward and uses his right to push on the ground. When he skates "switch" he is skating "goofy" with his right foot forward. When he is "pushing switch" he has his right foot forward and he's using his left foot to push on the ground to gain momentum.
He also dropped in switch today on the two-foot quarterpipe.
Watching skateboarding on television recently (I think it was the Streetleague Seattle competition, but I'm not positive), I heard a commentator say that soon we won't be referring to switch tricks. They predict that in the near future all pro skaters will be able to skate their tricks in both directions.
Or something like that.
As I mentioned, I'm having enough trouble keeping up with the big strides Sk8terdude is making as a skateboarder. Also keeping up with advancements in the field might be more than I can handle...
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sidelined
It's raining in Connecticut, and according to the gurus at weather.com, the rain is going to continue for the next five or six days. Add to that the nasty cold/cough/fever that Sk8terdude is suddenly sporting, and it looks like he is sidelined this week. Maybe this is a sign that he shouldn't have been skating with the broken finger?
Fortunately, we have plenty of skateboard-related activities to keep us busy:
Fortunately, we have plenty of skateboard-related activities to keep us busy:
- Streetleague Seattle is still on the TiVo so we can watch it over and over and over and...but for those of you who didn't see it/tape it/save it, it's also available online
- Tony Hawk Ride (the one with the "skateboard") for the Wii
- Tony Hawk's Underground 1 and 2 (the ones without the "skateboard")
- Tony Hawk's Proving Ground for the XBox
- Picture F**ing Perfect - a DVD featuring local skateboarders, including Sk8terdude's current teacher, Paul Hintz (Sorry, guys, I can't link to your info because this blog is coded for G-rated content only. If you had named your video something else it would have been okay, but...)
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Best Mom in the Whole World
I must admit that I wasn't thinking about Mother's Day when I scheduled our Jacksonville trip, but it turns out that returning home the day before the holiday was a really great choice. This week I was officially named "Best Mom in the Whole World" by Sk8terdude. (Fortunately for me, he was the only child voting). I've had more hugs, kisses, and thank yous from him over the last few days than I've had in the last few months (maybe even years). So I can't say I was surprised when my morning started with Sk8terdude willingly getting in the car with Sk8terdad to run some Mother's Day errands, including picking out a card, buying a basket of pastries/muffins from my favorite local bakery, and getting my daily dose of Starbucks.
I am, however, more than a little surprised by how my day is ending: Sk8terdude and I are sitting together watching Street League Seattle. After watching the first half hour, we set the DVR so we could go out to dinner, then returned to watch the end. By itself, that's not so surprising. What is surprising is that apparently I've learned a few things along the way that I never thought I would know OR care about.
In addition to knowing who Rob Dyrdek is (and, fyi, being incredibly impressed by him), I can recognize and correctly identify many of the skaters in the competition (Nyjah Huston, Chaz Ortiz, Shane O'Neill, Ryan Sheckler, Chris Cole, and, now, Billy Marks). And I can finally identify the difference between an ollie and a nollie (which might have happened sooner if someone had told me before now that nollie = nose + ollie).
The biggest surprise of all is how much I'm enjoying watching! I love the format of the Street League competitions. Unlike a jam session, this format allows me to watch each skater and really understand what tricks each skater is attempting. And having it on DVR means I can rewind and watch a trick a second time if I need to. There are still nuances that escape me. For example, if two skaters do the same trick, and they both land it, I can't necessarily tell if one did it better than another. Are there subtle differences in balance and style that I can't see? Maybe...but I have a little more than three months until we attend the August finals in New Jersey, and I'm determined to know a little more by the time we get to the Prudential Center. After all, I won't be able to hear the color commentary when we're sitting in the stands!
Watching (and enjoying) a skateboarding competition is a Mother's Day activity I could never have predicted once upon a time - before kids, and before Sk8terdude became a skateboarder - but now I can't imagine not sharing this with him. And if supporting his interest in skateboarding is what it takes to be the "Best Mom in the Whole World," then I'm okay with that. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way.
I am, however, more than a little surprised by how my day is ending: Sk8terdude and I are sitting together watching Street League Seattle. After watching the first half hour, we set the DVR so we could go out to dinner, then returned to watch the end. By itself, that's not so surprising. What is surprising is that apparently I've learned a few things along the way that I never thought I would know OR care about.
In addition to knowing who Rob Dyrdek is (and, fyi, being incredibly impressed by him), I can recognize and correctly identify many of the skaters in the competition (Nyjah Huston, Chaz Ortiz, Shane O'Neill, Ryan Sheckler, Chris Cole, and, now, Billy Marks). And I can finally identify the difference between an ollie and a nollie (which might have happened sooner if someone had told me before now that nollie = nose + ollie).
The biggest surprise of all is how much I'm enjoying watching! I love the format of the Street League competitions. Unlike a jam session, this format allows me to watch each skater and really understand what tricks each skater is attempting. And having it on DVR means I can rewind and watch a trick a second time if I need to. There are still nuances that escape me. For example, if two skaters do the same trick, and they both land it, I can't necessarily tell if one did it better than another. Are there subtle differences in balance and style that I can't see? Maybe...but I have a little more than three months until we attend the August finals in New Jersey, and I'm determined to know a little more by the time we get to the Prudential Center. After all, I won't be able to hear the color commentary when we're sitting in the stands!
Watching (and enjoying) a skateboarding competition is a Mother's Day activity I could never have predicted once upon a time - before kids, and before Sk8terdude became a skateboarder - but now I can't imagine not sharing this with him. And if supporting his interest in skateboarding is what it takes to be the "Best Mom in the Whole World," then I'm okay with that. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way.
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