Third Ski Trip

Third ski trip: Things started to go wrong before we even scheduled the lesson. I told Alex and Chloe I was going to schedule a ski lesson for them with their friend Angie and asked if they were pleased. Alex said he didn’t want to go. I asked why and he said that his last ski instructor told him that if he cried she was going to send him to the “baby room” where it was stinky and loud because of all the crying babies (the resort has day care). Chloe jumped in and corrected him saying that the teacher said she’d send Alex to the baby room if he didn’t do what he was told. Now I know kids sometimes misunderstand a situation or let their imagination run wild and come up with stories, but here I had the two of them coming up with roughly the same story, so I was inclined to believe them. There were two sets of teachers in the last lesson, one before snack break, and a different set after snack break. Before snack break Alex cried because I wasn’t there and when his teacher asked him to go on the magic carpet, or ski down the hill, he just stood there and said “no thank you” (he’s not allowed to say “no” to grown-ups), and this is the behavior that prompted this teacher to threaten my child? The after-the-snack teachers got the same “no thank you” response from Alex, but they were patient, let him take lots of breaks and kept him busy throwing snowballs and having fun between ski runs, which is what the 1st set of instructors should have done. Anyway, back to scheduling the lesson, I explained that the “baby room” is neither stinky nor noisy, and that we were going to a different mountain this time so we definitely would not have the same teacher, and I promised that I would stay next to the slope the whole time and make sure no one sent him to “the baby room”, so Alex agreed to go. Morning of the ski trip Alex changed his mind and decided he’s not going. I told him that he didn’t have to ski, but he does have to go. When we got there and saw Angie, he seemed excited. He explained that one must put their boot into the ski binding toe-first, like pushing a battery in. I was impressed with the comparison. Once suited up and ready to go the kids tried the nearly flat slope with the rubber mat on the side to walk back up. It is only Alex and Chloe and Angie in the class, and I get to actually talk to the teacher beforehand and explain that had a bad experience last time and that I am more concerned that he have fun today than that he actually learn how to ski today. Everyone seemed confident on the flat slope so they move over to the steeper slope with the magic carpet. This slope is much steeper than the one at the previous resort and since the kids don’t know how to turn or stop, once they get going down the hill all they can do is careen fearfully until they fall over. The teacher can’t be next to each kid all the time as they keep slipping down the mountain away from each other, so after the second run Alex and Chloe are scared, frustrated, whining, and ready to quit. Unlike the other resort, this lesson area is not fenced off, so I tried to run along with the kids on foot, but it is a losing battle. Angie’s Dad came back to check in and saw what was going on and managed to teach Angie to snow-plow and to start to turn. Neither the teacher nor I could manage to teach the twins anything. By the end of the lesson I was mentally exhausted and the twins were still scared and frustrated. Alex said he is never going again. He said when he is a grown-up, he is never going to take his kids skiing. Later in the day I asked if he had a good time skiing with Angie. He said “yes, but I’m never skiing again”. I guess we’ll have to see about that. Skiing with the kids is one of the dreams that I’ve had since before the kids were born, like Casey dreamed of taking the kids fishing. Getting Alex adjusted to riding in the boat was a slow process; perhaps skiing will be the same.