About Dad

Dad and I celebrated our tenth anniversary in August. We met in a theatre and the rest is history. Dad still works downtown in a big theatre, and Stitch sometimes gets to go and "help Dad" backstage and in the booth. When it comes to the skating, though, I think Dad is often a page behind us.

Coach and Stitch had a program day today. It's Holiday Break, Stitch has buckets of free time, and I've asked for two extra lessons to fill it up. Better to have him ice skating than shredding up notebooks or disassembling then reassembling random toys into something unrecognizable.

I'm stuck at work, so Dad got to take him to Practice Ice. I called in when I assumed Coach and Stitch would be done, but they were still going.

"What does the program look like?"
"Uh, it's kind of like last time... start on the blue line, head stage left, do a wide circle, head back upstage, turn from forward to backwards on one foot,"
"Three turn."
"Yeah, three turn, then do one of those skip-hop things," he says this haltingly as it's clearly happening in front of him.
"That's a bunny hop."
"That's a bunny hop? That doesn't make any sense."
"Okay, what about now?"
"Uh, he's doing a t-stop, but he's dragging his skate behind him," he goes on.
"That's a lunge."
"Whatever. Now he's on one skate, holding his body parallel to the ice."
"Spiral."
"What? He's not spinning."
"I know."
"I think he's got the basics of it. They were having music issues."
"That's lame. Did our music work?"
"Oh yeah." (The Home Rink CD Player doesn't like CD's from my Burner, but it does like them from Dad's burner.)
"Kickass. Just see if you can write something down."
"We've already scheduled next Tuesday."
"Great. Try and video that one." Because while I love you dearly, your attempts at explanations are useless. (And yes, he does read this blog.)

Dad doesn't attend many of the lessons, group or private. Most of these occur on weekends when he's working. Morning Practice Ice is out of the question for him. When you get home at midnight or later, getting up at six for stupid skating does seem pretty ridiculous. It's not that Dad doesn't care, it's just that Dad has odd hours. Really. Odd. Hours.

I think Dad just needs a better run-down of what Stitch is learning. I'll find the ISI and USFSA curricula and show it to him. Maybe that will help, but reading "forward inside open mohawk from standstill" might serve to confuse him further. Admittedly, I have to see the moves and have them explained to me before I can identify them.

I got to thinking this morning; if the January program features bunny hops and lunges, the March ISI program of boring forward crossovers will be a real snoozer. Stitch likes to jump and spin, and in this respect ISI is a real drag.