He bravely went onto the ice (along with about 12 or 14 other little people) and then realized that it was HARD! He kept a brave face for most of the time as he went away from the "Parent Door." He fell a few times and it's so so SOOO difficult to get up from the ice! The instructors showed him how but it didn't work. So, eventually he got help and kept going, arms straight out and taking teeeeeny steps forward. He headed back toward us and when he got to the doorway... well, he had been brave long enough. He started crying and was ready to be done. One of the instructors said I could step on the ice and talk to him. I picked him up and made a deal: I would hold him for 2 minutes and he would try again for 1 minute. It worked out VERY well, because I held him for 2 minutes and he finished the class (about 12 minutes remained). He made incredible progress and even managed to turn himself around to come back to the exit. The camera could not capture how very pleased he was with himself... And of course nothing could capture how full my heart was watching him overcome his own fears and frustration and finding success.
Tommy returned this evening from skiing and was equally thrilled. Although... the first thing on his mind was "WOW! I can't believe I was on the bus until midnight and Elliott is still up!" (It was 5:15 when they got back to the school. Funny!) He seems very pleased with how it all went - he got to buy his hot chocolate so everything else was most likely gravy. He did the magic carpet and says that next week he'll do the rope toe. He did not remember his instructor's name but it was a girl, she was "cuter than you, Mom" and she had sort of a Spanish voice. Oooookkkay. He claims to have been "the best one" in his group... I don't know where this over confident kid came from! For all I know he was right.
This isn't an official skiing photo, but here's Tom in his gear after our first snowfall in December:
Next up: we have to buy Elliott some skates and get the kids a pass to Pop Whalen ice arena.... because of course now Tommy really wants to get on the ice!
Thursday update:
As with many things, I didn't have the full story from Tommy! He apparently went into the lodge after lessons, ate his snack, and then cried because he wanted to be DONE. My teacher/daycare mama friend reported this morning that she had to coax him back out on the magic carpet. I can't decide if I feel proud and happy that his unsettling episode was completely out of his mind when he got home or concerned that it's not something he shared with us. Oh, well.... She said that aside from that his behavior and whatnot seemed to be just fine and that he was, most likely, just really, really tired! I'm still calling it a win - for now!
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