I have to say my favorite summer tradition is our annual ice skating outing. Yes, ice skating in August! Can you think of a more creative way to beat the dog days of summer? Neither can I.
The girls and I dug out our winter hats and mittens, put on our jeans and headed over to the Chiller Skating Rink. Being August, it wasn’t very busy today… maybe 20 skaters, at best, including 3 pro hockey guys in their getup.
Sahara was glued to the wall, which was fine with me… she stopped at each bench and penalty box while her sister periodically came up from behind to say, “Hi” and offer a helping hand. It took Sahara 45 minutes to do one lap then she hesitantly stepped off of the rink. She amazed me as she walked on her skates without wobbling, which according to her IEP she shouldn’t be able to do.
(LEAPS AND BOUNDS!)
After she removed her skates we went to the balcony to watch Emily skate with confidence, pink cheeks, and a faint smile of pride. Emily twirled and sped across the ice with grace, not a common trait in this kid.
(Another moment of ACCOMPLSHEMENT filled me.)
As we headed to the car, Emily declared she was hungry. After lunch we headed over to the department store to get a jump start on school shopping. As we pulled up to the stop light, I had this urge I just had to heed to. I rolled down my window and freely yelled, “GIRLS ROCK!” Emily’s eyes got big and I heard a faint giggle…
“1, 2, 3… GIRL POWER!”
…we were laughing, shouting, and enjoying our girlhood to the fullest. Sahara participated from the backseat laughing as much as her sister did as she repeated “Girl Power”. For that moment we had no diagnosis in the car, no constraints from society, and no peer pressure… we were just innocently enjoying a mom and me outing celebrating our girl-ness.
We talked about how girls can do anything a boy can do (psst, sometimes better). This is something I think young girls often are not encouraged to do, but not today… today I told them they could be, do, and experience ANYTHING they decided to.
We talked about it being awesome that Emily loves science and math, and that girls can have those types of careers too. I even discovered that Emily secretly thought it would be really neat if her and her sister grew up to be Paleontologists working together on excavations.
HOW COOL IS THAT!?!?
Most siblings want to get as far away from each other as possible, but not my girls. I suppose that this is Emily’s way of saying that I shouldn’t worry about Sahara’s future. She often declares that Sahara and she will live together when they leave home, and sometimes I think that just might be the case.
This was evident half way through the store when Emily (out of the blue) declared, “I LOVE MY SISTER!!!” I looked over at her and smiled faintly, “I know you do and she loves you…”
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