Jim took the boys skating at Westside recreation centre this afternoon. Last winter Jim and Daegan did a half-dozen or so skating classes, but this was Gareth’s first time on skates. Westside is a lovely facility, with different ice areas and fire pits to warm up. And in between the areas are lots of benches and rest areas. I didn’t go along (craving alone time to do such exciting things as fold laundry and take the dog for a walk in the bitter cold), but here’s the story as the boys and Jim told me.

They got there, and got skates on. Jim was pretty exhausted at first, as Gareth was clinging (having never done this before) and Daegan seemed to have forgotten everything he learned at skating lessons last year. But after a couple SLOW trips around the ice, it starts coming back and Daegan is now largely skating on his own. But Jim and Gareth need a break so they head over to one of the rest areas.

At the rest area, Gareth goes right up to another Dad and says, in his sweetest 4-year-old voice, “Excuse me…..could you please teach me how to skate?” Now Jim was a bit embarrassed, but this fellow took it in stride, and when Jim had a closer look at him, he noticed there was a patch on this fellow’s jacket that said “Assistant Coach”. Turns out this guy taught skating and coached hockey! And after checking with Jim, he was happy to give both boys pointers. He even gave Jim some tips on things to do with the boys next time they go skating.

Turns out Mr. Assistant Coach was there with another Dad and their respective kids (ages 8-10 or so, so much more independent) for a skating birthday party. In between helping my kids, this dad would give the birthday kids tips to practice slide stops or whatever, and then send them off to work on it on their own. And he spent a good 15 minutes straight at one point working one-on-one with Gareth while Jim skated with Daegan—one-on-one attention being something Daegan rarely gets from Jim when Gareth is along. And at the end, he noticed Jim trying to haul to boys off the ice towards the exits, and came over saying, “I remember how tough this was to do with two kids. How about you take Gareth, and I’ll help Daegan get his skates off?”

Thank you, Mr. Assistant Coach, for helping make my boys’ afternoon more enjoyable—to say nothing of my husband’s! :-)