When I was a kid, rollerblading didn’t even exist. There was roller skating, and ice skating. If it hadn’t been for birthday parties at the roller rink in Paxton, Illinois, maybe I never would have learned to roller skate. My first couples skate was holding hands with a boy named Quentin when we were literally 12 years old. Then we moved to the ‘burbs, and I went roller skating with my youth group. We skated to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Axel F. from Beverly Hills Cop back in the 80’s.
Then in the 1990s, the rollerblading craze hit, and I jumped right in. I bought my own pair of rollerblades. Skating on rollerblades was deceptively harder than roller skating, this balancing on a row of wheels, but I was soon rollerblading along the blacktop paths of DeKalb, Illinois. As long as there weren’t any hills, I was okay.
As with most athletic activities, such as biking and skiing, rollerblading went by the wayside when I became pregnant for the first time. It wasn’t until Lily was in Kindergarten when the rollerblades came out of retirement. Every year, her school has a rollerskating party, and we love to go when we can. Sometimes I see some of my students skating with their older siblings, and they get a kick out of seeing their preschool teacher on skates!
This past year, the girls enjoyed the rollerskating party so much that I took them to the roller rink for open skate on President’s Day. Lily has her own pair of roller blades, and I rented a pair for Emmy. The rink was less crowded than it is when the school goes, and we had a lot of fun skating together. I loved seeing the moms who were encouraging their kids to skate. Some watched from the sidelines, some were learning to skate themselves, and some were obviously pros. I’m definitely wobblier than I used to be, but I feel pretty good getting out there and skating even though I’m definitely a middle-aged mom. Lily and Emmy loved skating to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” and of course, “Uptown Funk.”
Since our weather seems to be very fickle this year, I think we’ll have to go skating again soon!
