A mother's note

Why she skates, in her own words. The reason I started Paris in ice skating was because she was struggling in school and the teacher was calling her out, "Paris get back in your seat," "No Paris, that's not right," "Paris quit talking..." All of these repeated public verbal disciplinary action, in first grade, caused a social whiplash. Kids in class don't want to be friends with the one the teacher doesn't like. Kids gravitate to befriend the perceived "teacher favorite," especially in the younger years. 

Crying at night, Paris described hating life, she didn't ever want to go back to school and she didn't feel like she was smart, had any friends, or could be good at anything. Once she found ice skating it changed her world. She felt like she could be good at something, she could love life again. In her own words this is why Paris skates.

It's fun watching Paris as she watches the Summer Olympics. She is glued to the TV, eyes wide full of dreams of her own. She loves watching the athlete stories telling about what is has taken to get reach their Olympic dreams. She is looking at how hard they train and that is inspiring her to reevaluate her current training. It is so much fun to watch her fall in love with a dream. I remember when I was young my dad used come into my room at night to say good-night, he would tell me that I could grow up to become anyone and do anything I wanted to do. Now it is my turn to say it to her. Has anyone watched that commercial about the mother's of the athletes? I get teary eyed because no matter what your little ones do, who they become, how big they get or fast they grow, they will always be your babies. That is how I feel when I watch my baby dance so beautifully across the ice.

Gearing up

I recently entered Copper Cup at a higher level of competition than what I am used to. I am surprised to find the level of competition much more difficult than previous categories. I really like having tough competition because it forces me to work hard. I ended up placing 4th, landing my most difficult axel. I think I was beat at a technical level, arm gracefulness, spins, and other details. My goal is to take more off ice training to increase core strength and upper body awareness. I also want to be on ice for 2 hours and 15 minutes each day, and off ice for 30 minutes each day (at least). I think I need to be more disciplined when I'm on the ice without my coach. When I'm training with my coach, I know what to work on, and when to move on. When I'm alone on ice I sometimes get distracted watching other skaters, or jumping from one thing to another without perfecting either move. I forget to pay attention to posture and arm. I'm currently working to pass off my moves in the field at the Pre Juvenile level. My next competition is Oktoberfest scheduled at the end of September.