Over the weekend, little Summer received her first ‘official’ failure, but of course we didn’t use that word whilst breaking the news to her.
Here it is, in its official glory
You see, 2 weeks ago when we went to Canopy at Bishan Park for dinner, we chanced upon a group of kiddos learning how to rollerblade. This intrigued Summer, and she pleaded that we sign her up for classes.
Admiring her proactive nature and frankly relieved that it wasn’t your usual run-of-the-mill piano or ballet class, I promptly signed her up for the next available weekend class.
In the process of doing so, I was advised that this was merely going to be an introduction class for beginners who have never put on a pair of rollerblades in their lives. And at the end of it, the instructor will assess whether the student can progress to the next level (i.e. pass or fail).
That was warning sign number 1.
Also, the staff advised me that even though she made an exception for me to admit Summer who is not yet 4 years old, the class is typically for kids between 4-7 years old.
That was warning sign number 2.
Pleased, I brought Summer down to Skateline (which is also the company organizing the class) to buy her protective guards for her lessons. There, the shop attendant commented after looking at Summer, that they normally do not admit such physically small kids to their lessons as they would have difficulty in standing up.
And there you have it, warning sign number 3.
Despite all these put-offs, I was determined not to ruin Summer’s aspirations of being a world class rollerblader and went ahead with the lesson.
That's me in my best outfit gearing up for Summer
And when the lesson started, I slowly began to realize why the warning signs came. Because indeed, Summer started to struggle.
From wearing the guards
To wearing the rollerblades
Summer needed help in basically… everything. And when the lesson started proper, out of shyness she didn’t respond to the instructor or even look at him.
This was beginning to look bad. And then she started whining ‘Papa Papa Papa…’, which honestly got on my nerves a little. Why couldn’t she just get on with her class herself?!
This went on for some time, until the instructor (out of despair, I suspect) suggested that I join in the class to boost her confidence.
And so I did.
And lo and behold, she started to pick up instructions, and even managed to walk quite confidently in her pair of rollerblades!
Grouchy before look
Happy After Look
I credit the change in attitude to my participation, thank you very much.
At the end of it all, she even mustered a few laughs on the last exercise.
The other girl in class was... 8 years old
All in all, she had fun, albeit it came towards the end of the class. And shockingly, even though I was mentally prepared for the instructor telling me she has to repeat the same class a few times, I wasn’t ready for a report card stamped with ‘FAILED’.
I mean, come on, these are just young kids trying to chase an interest. Is there really a need to brand them as failures? What in the world?
Try telling this face that she failed
No, I decided that I will not let this shatter her dreams of learning to rollerblade.
What I am going to do, is to buy her her own pair of rollerblades, and then teach her on my own accord.
Now that I have been a pseudo-instructor for approximately 45 minutes, I should be qualified enough.
Passion should NEVER be deterred!