The weather has been cold, dropping down past -15C (5F) in the last few days in this area, but it will be warming up midweek to plus temperatures. So, to take advantage of the weekend weather, Smallsteps and I ventured out onto the ice for the first time this season.
In Finland, most schools and many other parks and the like will have rinks made in them where kids can skate and adults can play their bush-league games for fun. There is also the possibility to head out to the lake to skate, but I will wait a few weeks to make sure that the ice is thick enough, as the temperatures keep going up and down and there is some flow around our area.
Full transparency: I can't skate.
Well, I can skate, but I am a terrible skater and can't skate well enough to do anything fancy, nor can I get that special slide stop to work, so I just spin around in a circle to stop. Or hit a barrier. Or fall over.
But, like it or not, we live in Finland and Smallsteps has to learn these most important skills, otherwise she will be mocked and shunned, becoming an outcast in society, never being able to join in the reindeer games.
Considering this is her first time in a year, she got her confidence up in a couple minutes and was "bussing" along (shuffling) quite quickly. I am trying to teach her to push more rather than step, but it takes some time as it is not a natural motion after not too many years ago, learning to walk and run. Plus, there is the whole balance thing to sort out, which is also affected as she tends to want to look at her feet as she skates, which pushes her center of gravity forward, and then she will over correct and fall onto her butt.
She is getting there though and even though she is falling over relatively often, it is actually a good thing, as she is learning how to hit the ice and then get back up, something that everyone has to learn. Removing the fear from it as a kid makes it far easier later, even though the plan isn't to fall over often. It still happens.
It was pretty cold out there as while only -8, it was windy and the windchill factor pushed it down to about -18 or so, but as they say,
There is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing.
Living in a cold country can be quite expensive in regards to clothing, especially if buying everything new. Even secondhand though, the better clothing is sold at about the same price or even more expensive than catching it at a decent sale, which we did last year. This outfit we got at 50% off in the early Autumn and will hopefully make it through next winter too, but at the moment, Smallsteps is growing fast. The benefit is, she will max out her height quite early, as her parents aren't giants.
We also get a few hand-me-downs for her from family and neighbors, as they clean out their closets of the things that don't fit. We got a ski suit the other day that has been passed along through four children starting twenty years ago and Smallsteps will be the fifth to wear it. This is one of the benefits of buying quality winter wear, as it lasts for a long time, though the styles and patterns might change a bit from time to time. In Finland at least, most people don't care about kids' fashion thankfully.
With my wife's niece and nephew now of the age that they are likely to start thinking about having children, the majority of Smallsteps good clothing will get passed along to them when the time comes, so they don't have to spend the extra on rebuying everything, just for a change of color.
After about ten minutes on the ice, she was doing pretty well, getting a bit of "speed" (less shuffling) and getting more comfortable with turning and keeping her balance. We weren't there that long this time, but it was a good start to the season and we will get out again once weather permits, as depending on how long for, once it goes to plus temperatures and rains, all the rinks have to be poured again when it drops back down. There is plenty of season left though.
A short trip but a good one and now home, it is time for a warm afternoon meal and to continue playing along with her. We have been doing some arts and crafts already and I am thinking that today might also be a good day to start teaching her how to play chess. I am not a great player by any measure, but much like skating in Finland, I think knowing the basics goes a very long way.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]