Taking lessons is a new thing for Emma, but she's doing pretty well. Just like with swimming lessons, she takes a little while to warm up to people she doesn't know and therefore how she does in class is dependent on that. As a result, when we took a family ski trip a few weekends ago, we decided to enroll the kids in one day of lessons, and then for the second day we figured we'd maybe just ski with them on the bunny slope (taking turns doing full runs, so one of us could stay with kids), or maybe put them in another day of lessons. Lessons weren't cheap, at Winter Park they were $179/day for advance purchase (saving us $10, unenthusiastic "woo"). So we were only going to put them in a second day if we knew the first day went well.
I decided the best chance of success was if we got Emma mentally prepared for it before we dropped her off with strangers. So a few days before our trip I started telling her a story about a little 3-year-old girl named Hollie. She named the girl, but was very excited when she found out she was 3 "just like me!" Anyway Hollie was going to go to ski school. When she got there she was excited to learn to ski, but a little nervous for her mommy and daddy to leave. She met her teacher and told her teacher what her name was and how old she was. But when it was time for her to go color with her teacher and mommy to leave, she held onto her mommy. But that's when her mommy told her "It's okay Hollie, you can go have fun" and so Hollie went and colored with her teacher. Then later that day Hollie got to go on the magic carpet and ride "up, up, up", and then she got to learn to ski "down, down, down". She fell a few times, but her teacher would help her and say "that's okay, I'll help you". She got to have lots of hot cocoa and by the end of the day she went "down, down, down" without falling! Yay, she learned to ski!
Anyway, Emma loved the story and I think it really helped because when it was time for me to leave she was not wanting to let go of me. She was interested in coloring with the teachers, so I told reminded her about Hollie and asked her what did Hollie's mommy say when it was time for her to leave? Emma smiled and recited that part of the story, and I could see a sense of calm come over her at that point. She sat down to color and I stayed with her a bit, but I had to go the bathroom. I used that as a way to test the waters by leaving for just a few minutes, telling her I'd be right back. That went well, so when I came back I told her it was time for me to go to my ski school for grown ups, and she let me go. As I walked out of the room, she looked up and we waved, but all was well.
I had originally thought I'd want to come check on her mid-day, but everyone I talked to said not to, that if the kids see you, even if they were doing fine they would probably want to leave and come with you. So we let Emma do the whole day class. By the end of the day when I went to pick her up I was so anxious to see how she'd done. When I arrived, she was looking awfully tired while she was being pushed around in an office chair by her instructor (who was male). I don't think Emma connects as well with male instructors. Anyway, her coat had also gone missing after lunch, so they had her in a spare jacket. We looked around and finally found it though. The teacher said she did a total of 8 passes up and down the magic carpet, which for the 3-year-old age and first time was pretty good. She surprised me by saying she wanted to come outside and ski more on the magic carpet though...I thought she looked beat. But this way John and I got to see what she could do. (Evan was already out there showing us his new skills too...which is for another post soon).
We got her out to the beginner area, got her cute (super tiny!) skis on her, and she was ready to go. John went up to the top with her to help her. She definitely needed help getting off the carpet (conveyor belt) and over to the top of the hill. But then he was trying to hold onto her as she started going and she wanted him to let go. This is when our baby showed us that she had learned to ski! She skiied down the slope and at the bottom turned just slightly and came to a stop. It was AMAZING!
At the bottom of the slope after a run and she turns slightly and slowed down all by herself!
John's caught up behind her, but she had already gotten her speed under control!
Given how well she did and the convenience of having the kids go to classes instead of us having to teach them to ski, we decided to put them in a second day of classes. We asked them and both kids said yes, so we bit the bullet and paid for it. The end of day report card gave us a $10 off coupon, so the classes were the same price as the advance purchase. By the next morning as we were walking to the ski school carrying all of their ski gear, Emma started refusing to go, saying she didn't want to go to ski school. Everyone on that path from the drop off parking lot witnessed her cried about not wanting to go. I ended up having to carry her and as we walked I tried to think of fun things to distract her from the nerves that must have set in. When we got there, I was delighted that she fell more into the mode of "I've done this before, I know what to do", because she picked out a cubby for her stuff and we went over to color again. By this time, she wasn't as adamant about not going, but she wanted to come to my class. I told her she's not a grown up yet and can't, but that her class is perfect for her age. Since she'd learned to ski the day before, the class put her in the next level called "Learn to stop", so I talked with her about how she was going to learn how to stop today. She said "No, I like to go fast." I told her that she especially needs to learn how to stop if she wants to go fast. Then she said "but I just turn and my skis stop". Isn't she a perceptive one!? The instructor that was coloring with us was also amazed by that. Regardless, she still needed more practice. I did the same trick as the first day, going to the bathroom as my test departure. That worked well again, and so after that drop off was essentially the same as Day 1.
After class when I picked her up, this time she was running around laughing between 3-4 instructors who were on the floor on their knees playing a game with her. It was refreshing to see her in such a good mood at the end of the day. :) And again, she wanted to go to the slopes to practice a bit more. She did great, zooming down the practice slopes and controlling herself at the bottom. Of course, after two full days of skiing she was pretty tired on our drive home the next day. In fact, she fell asleep mid-snack! It was a great weekend overall though. Two days of skiing, kids swimming in the condo pool every night. Lots of great memories to be had!
Here she is telling me to not hold onto her, she can do it by herself!
Do you notice the half-eaten snack that has fallen out of her hand? :)
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