Mommy on wheels.

Yesterday we took the kids roller skating. They had never been to a roller rink before, and we thought it would be a fun family outing. Well it certainly was! I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Nor have I fell so hard in a while, but more on that later.

My husband originally wanted to take the kids ice skating. But I thought that maybe we should start with the roller skates instead. You know, start small. The kids have had little skating experience. Mostly they have strapped on the kind that go over your shoes and semi-rolled on the patio. A far cry from the super slick floors at the roller rink. And believe me, they are slick!

My kids were so excited to go. They put their skates on eagerly, had a gleam in their eyes when they were all laced up... And then they stood up. And they realized that, holy sh*t, these things roll! My husband and I also laced up and were ready to roll. Only I can't really skate. I can just propel myself forward in a gangly, awkward fashion, my arms pumping and a supreme look of concentration on my face. But hey, I can stand, and that's basically all I needed to do.

We each grabbed a kid and headed into the rink. The kids tightly gripped the wall with one hand, and held on to us with the other. Their legs flailed. Their skates rolled, and they went nowhere but down. I was so afraid we were going to pull their arms out of their sockets while trying to hold/lift them up! But slowly we made our way forward. And I do mean slowly.

I managed to do pretty well myself. Luckily, I could keep my balance while holding up a child. Most of the time. I did take a mighty fall once that left a big purple bruise on my knee. And I also took out my daughter - that was the only fall that made her cry. Yay Mommy.

After a few ibuprofen and a good nights sleep, I'm managing to at least walk today. But my son has the day off of school, and so I'll have to take the kids out to the playground. I'm just hoping they'll let me plant myself on a bench instead of the usual game of tag they like me to play. Please kids, be nice to the old lady. Mommy wasn't meant to be on wheels.