Dropping In

My kids are enrolled in a skateboarding class, through the local YMCA. For two years, they've been talking about skateboarding, sounding like real pros when they debate the merits of this deck over that deck with their cousins, and the abilities of Tony Hawk over other pros (okay, I admit it, I blanked when it came time to name another pro. I didn't pay that close attention to the kids).

But when it came time for my kids to actually walk the walk, as they say, at the local skate park, my kids didn't do much more than roll around on their boards and then go back to talking about skateboarding.

They were, in essence, all talk.

And hey, I didn't blame them one darn bit. I tried those skateboards. They are SCARY. Did you ever get on one? It's like purposely slipping on a banana with both feet, on ice, with concrete beneath your precious little skull.

Uh-uh. Not for me.

But my kids are troopers and when the local Y offered this course, at an indoor skatepark, they jumped at the chance. So, I signed them up, and bit my nails as I watched them conquer things like "ollies" and "manuals" and this past week, "dropping in."

At first, it was more like "Falling in." One kid after another tumbled down the tiny ramp.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Us parents cringed with every attempt, as the kids spilled down the small ramp, not getting much more hurt than their egos, but still... Ouch.

And then, finally, both my kids did it. They dropped in. To see the look of triump on their faces as they tipped the edge of their skateboard over the lip of the ramp, then pushed down, and dropped onto the curve, was incredible. I still cringed, sure tehy were going to go face-first into the floor, but they didn't.

So, what's the moral of the story here? That sometimes, the things that scare us most (and my kids, believe me, were scared to do this -- this was the main topic of conversation the entire ride over to the lesson) are the things we need to attempt anyway. That what looks like a big drop from up above (to them it looked like a huge drop in, but from my vantage point, it really wasn't more than an 18-inch ramp) really isn't that big at all. And that sometimes you're more ready than you think to take that chance.

So think about it. What pool (that's some skateboarding lingo for you today) are you ready to drop into today? I've got one in mind in my own life. It may seem scary, but sometimes, you've just got to, as Maxine says on the notepads I bought at the Hallmark store, "put your big girl panties on and just do it."

Today, go on and drop in. :-)

Shirley