Clowns on Ice

How hard could ice skating be? Well the four of us clowns were about to find out. You see, Mateus has been begging me to take him ice skating for months. Ever since his Gym teacher praised his abilities in floor hockey, it's become his sport of choice.... and it didn't take him too long to figure out it's supposed to be played on ice. On top of that, his friend Aiden, who is almost a year older and therefor glorified as doer of all things cool, goes regularly. So Sunday afternoon we decided to appease his yearnings and just do it. "You been ice skating before right?" I asked Walderi. "Yeah, went once with Celso when I first came to New York, you?" "Sure, couple times. I went with some friends when I was in middle school. It probably won't be too hard to pick up again."
So the four of us show up at the rink, rent some skates and wobble towards the ice. As I'm approaching, it dawns on me that not only will I have to relearn how to ice skate after 18 years, but I will have to do it with a little person clenching on to me for support and looking up to me for guidance. A glance over at Walderi tells me the same thought has occurred to him. We exchange pitiful smiles and falter onto the ice. Now picture, if you will, a family of four, gripping, white knuckled onto the sides of the rink... legs going every witch way... 3 year olds speeding by them. After about 15 minutes we make it the 50 feet to the next exit and call it a day. That rink hasn't seen the last of us though, we'll be back...... some day.