Wednesday Night Lights

Stitch has effectively barred me from watching lessons.

The only time I get to watch is when he's on the big ice, and that's because it's just less chaotic to sit in the rink. The lobby often smells like feet and old sandwiches, so I prefer the rink despite the temperature. Last night I arrived in time to see a very nice set of shoot the ducks (getting better) and to fix his pants. The foot strap boggles the babysitter. Whatever.

I shipped him off to the small ice and went to beading.

At one point, my curiousity got the better of me and I tried to look in. I lowered myself under the windows and peeked in, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was happening. A mom was looking at me funny, so I explained. "He says I can't watch."
"Oh. Is yours the one with the headband?"
"Yeah." (Stitch adores his USFS ear warmer.)
"He's adorable. Gonna break hearts someday."
"Thanks. Wht's he doing now?"
"Uh, spinning."
"Oh. Thanks."
Stitch saw me and began gesturing angrily for me to get lost. I went back to my seat.

Other than that, it was quiet and nice. I got a lot done, looking up to see Gordon and the other kids coming out. Stitch was still on the ice, badgering Coach about something. And bouncing. Coach was nodding and gathering her things, and Stitch came right to me, happy and bubbly.

My slow process to get Stitch to put on and take off his own skates has hit a wall with the actual lacing process, so all I do now is tie and untie. "Okay, Stitch. Get your shoes on and cross your fingers."
"Why?"
"Because the LOW FUEL light is on in the car and I might have to push us to the gas station."
Stitch was playfully terrified of this idea, and of the Knee Pad Secret. "I fell, and it didn't hurt at all!"
"That's good, so they're working."
"Yeah!"
"Did you ask Coach about your Gamma Delta patches?"
"Yeah."
"And? What did she say?"
"Nothing."

Hm. Coming from Stitch, this doesn't mean much. He doesn't remember what he had for lunch on any given day."Well, okay. But I'll ask her when we can schedule a Gamma test, and maybe even do Delta at the same time."

The car did not run out of gas, and Stitch likes to help with the fueling up process. This is fine on summer days, but in spring, fall and winter when it's cold, I could die waiting for Stitch's small hands to grasp the gas nozzle tight enough to quickly fuel the car. We traded off for expediency's sake and headed home.

Stitch is off on Friday, so I told Dad to take him to the rink and try The New List. Dad says he skates enough and wasn't thrilled with this idea. Whatever, the list is better done on the Big Rink, it's a holiday so it may be really sparse, and Sunday is a holiday so no ice at all. Hopefully they will go.

Does Stitch skate enough? There are a lot of people who will say No. Emphatically, no. Am I crossing a line? Who knows. All I know is Stitch likes skating, he's pretty determined about this stuff, and he's owning it more and more. These are all good things, working towards achievement and self esteem. Meaniehead classmate may boast that he is eight and Stitch is only seven, but Meaniehead classmate can't spin. Stitch knows this, and I think it gives him some strength.

For better or worse, Skating is a big part of our lives now, and I'm not sure how it happened. In my efforts to figure it out, I made a graph.

It didn't help.