My Kids Went to the Dark Side: Kim-Marie's Trip Diary Day 3

Posted in Trip Diaries
by Kim-Marie on February 20, 2011

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I could only keep them from snowboarding for so long.  Today three of my four children went to the dark side.  They had been begging, pleading and making all sorts of promises about clean rooms and homework in the hopes that I would let them try snowboarding.  For years I’ve told them they need to be excellent skiers first, then it was they had to be able to ski black diamonds, then they had to ski as fast as mom.  Now that they could do all of those things how could I say no?  

I have nothing against snowboarding, it’s just that I’m a skier, their grandpa was a skier, I thought we’d all be a happy skiing family forever.  That, and I’m terrified of snowboarding.  It just looks awkward and painful.  I was perversely pleased to hear from my daughter that I was right, it hurts a lot to learn to snowboard.  But that hasn’t stopped her.  

She started snowboarding three days ago, today she is classified as a “confident rider”.  It’s a very apt description for my gutsy little girl who will try anything.  Her instructor today told her that she has real talent, she’s now talking about Shaun White.  She’s only be snowboarding for THREE DAYS.  What happened to my little girl on the magic carpet with her miniature skis? Her brothers were either impressed or jealous and have followed her lead this week and have also started boarding.  She has pointed out that no one has declared them “talented” yet.

I think they also enjoy the fact that I know NOTHING about snowboarding.  I don’t know goofy from regular, when I listen to their instructor explain what they are working on my face glosses over in a blank stare.  I can’t even tie their boots correctly (or so they tell me, how would I know?)

On some level I hope they’ll come back and ski with me and be in awe of me like they were when they were little.  But really, I’m enormously proud of my little girl who came home the first day of boarding with two swollen knees, a sore neck and various bruises only to keep going back at it until she became a confident rider.