The Moment

For all my faithful readers over the years, you probably remember our previous attempts at organized sport with Greyson. First soccer which he refused to participate in at all and then hockey when he screamed bloody murder and refused to get out on the ice.

But hope springs eternal in the Erim household and so when, a couple of weeks ago, Greyson said he wanted to play hockey with some coaches Raif and I signed him up for skating lessons (though we did tell him that it was 'hockey practice without sticks').

Needless to say I was more than a bit apprehensive about the whole thing since it was I who was taking him and would have to deal with any potential hysterics. We talked to him extensively about the fact that he was going to go on the ice alone with his coaches but that I would be watching the whole time. He seemed OK with it so off we went.

My first "Oh Shit" moment came when he found out who his coach was....a girl. "But Mommy, where are the boy coaches I need a boy coach. Girls are yucky." I managed to convince him that when he starts practice with sticks he will have a boy coach. After a couple of minutes of off ice instruction it was time to leave the Mommies and head out to the ice.

Then the tears came...but not from Greyson, but from me because my boy followed his coach to the edge of the rink, turned around, waved, smiled and marched onto the ice without a tear, a whine or a whimper. He then proceeded to skate and fall and laugh and occasionally turn to wave but he did it. He took one giant leap from little boy-dom to boy-dom and I couldn't be happier or prouder of my little man.