New blog, new to figure skating

I thought it would be useful to keep a journal of interesting, useful, and possibly funny things that I learn about figure skating.

My 12-year-old daughter, Ice Girl, loves, loves, loves to skate. This is a kid who has been in all kinds of sports and hasn't had too much success. Well, to be fair, I'm talking about success as in Wow! Look at my kid score! Yeah, not so much.

She started in gymnastics just after potty training, just shy of her third birthday. She liked gymnastics and took classes for nine years. She can tumble and do a respectable handstand off the balance beam, but she's not fabulous and she's not inspired. That's O.K. She tried and enjoyed it. Me, I like staying inside during lessons, especially when it's snowing or raining.

I know enough to stay out of the rain and snow because Ice Girl tried soccer, too. In kindergarten soccer, the team was co-ed. That's great. Co-ed teams encourage the girls to run like heck and compete with the boys. Except that Ice Girl's team had Pele on it and some six-foot kindergartener who was already shaving. My kid picked dandelions in the goal box and was completely stunned when the ball came her way. As the herd of kicking kindergarteners approached, Ice Girl dropped her flowers and froze in place. We stuck it out for three years in soccer. Lots of dandelion chains, not much else. I still resent sitting on a lawn chair, wrapped in an old Packers blanket, and freezing my butt off. However, the momma gossip was fabulous. I'm not sure I watched too many games. Ice Girl didn't watch many, either.

Ice Girl tried guitar, too. It's not really a sport, but she wasn't passionate about it, either. It's indoors, though, so Ice Mom liked guitar quite a bit.

Basketball. Ice Girl tried that one season. She's short, Ice Girl is. Poor shrimpy thing. All of her friends, with two exceptions, are like trees next to her. The other two were wise enough to never try basketball. Ice Girl tried, but was bored: no dandelions to pick.

Swimming. Geez. I thought this was a stroke of genius, pardon the pun. After school, Ice Kid could walk with her flippers and suit to the high school pool, spend 45 minutes on homework, and then swim laps with other kids. I picked her up after work and took her home. Smart, hey? You'll notice that swimming is indoors. However, the indoors is like a freaking hot house. Nothing but sweat. And Ice Girl? She's not really into racing. The first and only time trial I attended was a disaster. Ice Girl swam against kids four years younger than she is. That's fine, but those mean 8-year-olds left her in their wake. I'm not kidding. Ice Girl was a lap and a half behind the slowest swimmer and Ice Girl was taking her time. She was moving her arms and legs, but she was also looking around, enjoying the scenery. She finished and was thrilled to have done so.

That's what I admire about Ice Girl. She's sweet and sincere. I don't think she realized that finishing two minutes behind everyone else was, um, embarrassing. All of her swimming friends cheered her. I didn't let her know that her finish was anything out of the ordinary.

Ice Girl doesn't have that take-the-ball-at-all-costs attitude. She'd rather take her time than race. I think that's part of the reason that she loves figure skating. Well, that and the costumes.