Is it genetic???

The one thing I said that I NEVER wanted Ben & Molly to do is ice skate. I swore that the moment they were born all of my skating pictures & videos would be tucked away in boxes so that they would never ask to skate based on seeing images of me doing it. What I wouldn't be able to hide from them would be some of my closest friends who are still involved in the skating world, their cousins who like to skate for fun from time to time, and of course their Grandma, who would love to get back at me for all of the early morning practices & hundreds & thousands of dollars that she spent on the wonderful sport that I once loved....

I have to admit that I was taken a bit by surprise when Grandma dropped Molly off at home one day in one of my old skating dresses proudly wearing one of my medals around her neck. I didn't think much of it since Molly had just turned 2 at the time & loved to dress up in almost anything with sparkles on it. What really shocked me was last August when Molly asked me one day out of the blue "will you go ice skating with me?" I quickly replied "someday" & changed the subject. I didn't hear about her desire to hit the ice again until November when we were talking about what she wanted for Christmas. We were looking through catalogs & she quickly pointed out a pink pair of ice skates that were on a doll & exclaimed "I want those & Ben wants blue ones!" I replied, "Oh, you want skates for your dolly?" She stamped her feet, crossed her arms, and said "No I want pink ones for me!" My heart sank. Who was filling her head with these ideas....

Sweet little Molly napping in the dress that Grandma sent her home in (she refused to take it off for 2 days)!

I immediately called my mother and asked her why she was trying to get Molly to skate & she swore that she had never mentioned it since the day she sent her home in the dress. Hoping that this was true, I made her swear not to mention it to the child again. A few weeks later Molly again asked for skates & this time added a pretty skating dress to her wish list. I was doomed!!!! The last thing that I wanted to do was spend another minute of my live in an freezing cold ice arena. Why couldn't she want to do a summer sport or dance class? So I started thinking about possibly letting her attempt skating. After some serious deliberation I decided that it was probably a good idea for her to try skating as soon as possible so, I got on the internet & ordered 2 tiny pairs of skates to place under the tree!!!

Had I lost my mind!? No, I had a plan...I have spent many years teaching skating lessons & I have vary rarely seen a 2 1/2 year old who enjoys skating. They get on the ice, fall a couple of times & NEVER want to do it again! So, the investment of a couple of pairs of cute little skates was going to be worth not having the spend the next 10-20 years of my life in a rink. I have already spent over 17 years freezing to death - I am ready for a summer sport! So, I signed them up for soccer & gymnastics too...

And then, the day finally came; we packed up those cute little skates, put on matching skating outfits & headed to the local rink. One of my best friends, Carrie, who teaches skating agreed to help out, since I hadn't been on the ice since the little monsters were born. When we got to the rink, things started going exactly as I had desired: Benjamin saw all of the cool game machines & refused to put his skates on! 1 down, 1 to go... Molly still wanted to skate, so we laced up her tiny white boots & sent her on her way. She couldn't even WALK in the lobby without falling down; I was so relieved. She would NEVER want to actually get on the ice. Or, would she....

Oh, she couldn't wait to get out there. She fell and laughed about it. She loved it so much that she refused to get off of the ice; even after she knocked poor Carrie over & caused her to fall almost on top of her. When I saw the two of them go down, I thought that Molly would be in tears & we would finally be done with the sport for good. Nope, she wanted more. My plan had backfired!

So, it has been 2 months since our initial trip to the rink & Molly has asked to skate again almost every week. I have been able to ignore her requests until today when her Aunt Christa & her cousins invited her to go skating at Crown Center Ice Terrace. Deep in my heart I prayed that this time she would get to the rink & decide that the ice was too slippery or that it was too cold, but of course that wasn't the case. This time it was even worse - Ben begged to put his skates on, too!

Well, it looks like I have lost my first major battle in parenting & I have learned to NEVER say NEVER. I hope Grandma is ready to spend a few more years getting up before dawn & heading to the rink (and I hope that Grandpa is ready to fund this little experience)!!!