I want to do that too

I am the taxi service to my kids' various activities. I participate in some activities (usually the 4H ones) but most are the 'be waiting by the door after class' kinda deals. At 13 and 14 years old, drop-off is the way most activities in this age group are organized, unlike their younger years when parental presence was periodically required.

But there has been an activity I've had to sit on the sidelines and watch due to the logistics of the time/location. It has made me realize that I would really like to take lessons too.

I want to learn to ice skate.

If you've read my blog you have likely surmised I am much more of a join-in rather than sit-around kinda person.

I know some very simple ice skating basics - like gliding, general balance and maybe a front cross-over.

But there are several reasons why I have not enrolled in ice skating lessons this year.

* Cost. It isn't crazy expensive but me taking lessons is the 'extra' that breaks the monthly family budget.

* Time. Usually when the girls are taking their lessons, I'm working in the stands (I love the fact that the rink has wifi).

* Lack of Ability. I am not the most athletically inclined person and as I get older, the idea of falling on the solid ice while learning to skate has much less appeal than powdery snow while on my xc skis.

But as the year has gone on, I've seen the girls progress to each new level of skating (their lessons are structured around the Ice Skating Institute guidelines). And as I watch how well they're doing, I just keep thinking... hey, I want to do it too!

So I have been to a couple of public skating sessions (at Falmouth Family Ice and Portland Ice Arena) during the past few weeks with the girls. I wanted to get a sense of what I can do, and can't do, on ice skates.

The girls have offered some pointers that have left me thinking my daughters are not my ideal instructors.

When I suggested they teach me how to swivel backwards because I think it's cool to skate backwards, L. told me, "You can't do that as the first thing mom."

When I tried to do forward cross-overs G. told me I had to point my front skate forward, not sideways. L. said it didn't matter at first how I did it when I was just learning.

When I asked G. to show me how to stop, L. told her, "The T-stop is too hard for her. She's going to fall."

When L. showed me how to push my skates backwards, G. said, "You're showing her the wrong way."

My teachers seem to disagree - a lot - on how to teach me the basics of skating and I've left the ice feeling the desire to take lessons from a real coach even more.

So I spoke with their girls' skating coach the other day and she explained a 4-week session of adult-only lessons is coming up next month. It's a short session with a lower price tag.

I think I'm going for it.

"Yeah mom, you really need it," chimed G. while L. nodded her agreement.

Thank you girls for helping me make a decision... and agreeing on something.