Family Day 2016...

After a very strange/snowy/emotional weekend (in which I got questioned for murder), I decided we had to celebrate Family Day this year.  Usually Family Day is just an extra day to veg out and binge on Netflix (OMG do you watch Wentworth??) - usually in separate rooms (I vowed to never watch Mall Cop again in my whole entire life after having to endure it twice in the theatre. It just so happens that Mason loves Mall Cop).  It's an unfortunate situation.

This year, after being trapped inside due to a snowstorm and my neighbour's murder, I figured it was a good year to start a tradition where we will never stay home for Family Day again.  Not that there's anything wrong with staying home - it's just so easy to pass an entire day without even really acknowledging that the other is there. 

I let Mason decide on an activity to do in the community. I had a few rules: no crowds and low cost.  Mason came up with the great idea of tobogganing. I was so in to it, until I remembered I had donated his sled to the Goodwill because he outgrew it. 

Then he suggested skating...and I was shocked.  

When I was in grade school, every week they would make us go to the arena next door and skate for an hour or so.  It was torture! I hated being cold.  I hated having to carry the gear to school every week.  I was lucky I even owned a proper pair of skates that my mother didn't Macguyver up for me. I just hated that feeling of my feet burning off when I took off my skates.  I never learned to properly skate because my teacher always picked on me and I got frustrated and gave up.  Kind of like the time my dad tried to teach me how to park a boat.  I got frustrated and never learned how to park a boat (Tip: never let me drive your boat).

Mason goes to the same school I went to and is lucky to get to attend these "fun" skating trips When he recommended skating as an activity, I realized that he has not been tortured enough at the arena because who in their right mind would want to freeze and skate around in a circle for an hour.

We have a couple of options when it comes to free outdoor skating in my city.  It's really quite impressive because the ice is full of people who don't mind frostbite...or circles. A lot of people had the idea to take their families skating on Family Day (go figure) but that didn't stop Mason from lacing up and joining them on the ice. I stayed on the sidelines, watching nervously, because I like my feet being warm(ish) and not falling and breaking my ass in front of a good portion of the population of London.

As he clumsily made himself around that ice pad I felt something (other than frostbite creeping into my Uggs) - I felt proud.  He wasn't the best skater out there, but he tried.  He made his way around in circles, dodging little Ice Capades champions - or so I assumed they were anyway - and tried his best to stay on two skates. He certainly was a lot better than I was at skating. In fact, he only fell once when I distracted him to smile for the camera. 

Next year we hopefully can do something where both of us can participate - and hopefully something a little warmer.  I think it was a pretty successful excursion though.  Mason had a lot of fun showing off his skating skills and I didn't freeze to death (although my iPhone did - boo).