Let's Rock and Roll

"Auntie Z doesn't know how to rollerskate!"

This is what MyGirl announced last Saturday as she put down the phone right after her conversation with Z ended this afternoon.

'What?' I said to myself. 'Z doesn't know how to rollerskate? How could this be?'

My mind wandered back to the summer days we would spend downstairs on skates. 'We' included Eldest Sis, London Eye, Sister Deer and myself. Our roller skates were made of metal. They had special keys which were used to adjust the length and width of the skates and tighten them against our rubbershoes. We would set out at odd hours of the day. Most of the time it was really just the two of us, Sister Deer and me. Perhaps it was because we were the ones who needed the most practice.

Come to think of it, I don't know if the younger siblings ever learned how to skate. Do they even know how to ride a bike?

Back to the present... Z had called while we were in the middle of skating. Our skating arena stretches from our living room through the hallway to the dining room/kitchen and back. Acoustic Alchemy was playing on the stereo. MacGyver and GI were not at home. MacGyver had gone for choir practice while GI was at his cousins' house where he had slept-over the night before.

Earlier that afternoon, I had refused to play another game of chess with RD and suggested we skate instead. Fortunately he agreed. MyGirl's regular skates were at Cebu Avenue so I offered the RD's set of rollerblades while RD put on GI's old pair. It was a good thing our skates still fit after all these years. These skates are at least four years old.

This was MyGirl's first attempt at inline skates. Her regular pair at Cebu Avenue is a variation of the skates we used to have as children. We found this pink pair when she was only 2 years old but at the time that the boys were into inline skates. When we bought the skates, she was still very small. She started off with plastic Little Tikes skates.

When she grew outgrew those, she was ready for our pink skates. However, she refused to have the wheels adjusted to become inline skates.

Faced without an option of skates to use except RD's old pair of inline skates, MyGirl was willing to try this new contraption on her feet.

She was afraid she wouldn't be able to balance but I told her rollerblades were actually easier than roller skates. Fortunately, she was brave enough to try and before we knew it, she was off on her own.

I remember that the first time I tried to rollerblade was in Baguio. Z held on to GI while I went off and acted like a kid, making figure eights and all. I enjoyed skating and at that time decided I'd like to buy a pair of my own.

Eventually, we did buy rollerblades. GI was a natural. He learned how to skate backwards even before I did. RD eventually skated fast enough to call out, "Move over, slow pokes." And now, MyGirl has discovered how much fun it is to feel the wind brush past her face as she skates back and forth.

I end this post with a kidbit from when we first bought the skates. GI was 11, while RD was 6 going on 7.

New Super Hero -- 05 December 2004

GI and RD were rollerblading inside the house. When they got all sweaty, I asked them to put something on their backs. We use old cloth diapers for that purpose. After a while, GI got the idea of using his diaper as a cape. He sped through the house with the diaper fluttering behind him. "I'm the Caped Avenger," he shouted.

RD liked this idea and asked that his cloth diaper be repositioned as well. As soon as I finished the knot to secure his cape, RD rolled away and shouted, "I am the Caped Adventure!"