My Bubble Wrap Poster Child

Lola was so excited to go ice-skating today, and Kimmi decided to come with us. One of the big highlights of ice skating for Lola is when we chance upon her ESOL teacher being at the rink. Lola quickly identified a car in the parking lot as that of her teacher and was anxious to go find her. Her teacher gives skating lessons at the rink, from what I understand, as well as taking lessons herself. She comes to the rink on Sunday afternoons to practice for her lesson. She is quite an amazing woman and I must say I liked her immensely the first time I met her back in August 2008. I’m glad she is Lola’s homeroom teacher as well as her ESOL teacher.

Lola put her skates on in record time and went out to visit with her teacher. We had arrived there later than planned so we were on the ice perhaps about twenty minutes before being shoo-ed off for fifteen minutes so the zamboni could come out. Once the ice was clean Lola was one of the first ones back out there; I was about ten people behind her in line, and Kimmi was farther back than I. When I finally got my first step back in the rink I observed a man of about 30 escorting Lola to the side of the rink. Upon reaching the spot where they were standing I noticed Lola had tears rolling down her face. I realized then that she must have fallen. The man was making sure she was ok as well as getting her out of the way of other skaters. I thanked him and turned my attention to Lola. She told me a little boy was skating fast like the hockey guys do and ran smack into her, knocking her over with such force that she said she felt like her head landed on the ice before her rear end did. Kimmi and I got her out to the concession area and applied a bag of ice on her head for about 30 minutes. Apparently the incident was serious enough to be brought to the attention of the management, and an employee of the rink (coincidentally, he was also the zamboni driver that day) came out with a clipboard and an incident report form. He asked us several questions and when finished he told us to notify the rink immediately if Lola required hospitalization.

Considering all the questions he posed to us, it was odd he never asked Lola if she could identify the boy who ran into her. When I asked him if they needed an ID on the person who had sent her flying, I was told it ‘wasn’t necessary’.

Hmm….don’t even get me started on that one - - I’ll go on and on about logic and policy regarding improper conduct on the ice and setting a clear warning for other rambunctious skaters.

After the twenty minutes or so of an ice bag applied to her head, Lola decided she was still ok enough to go back out to skate and hang out with her favorite teacher. Needless to say I was, as they say in the South, ‘on her like white on rice’ to make sure there were no other ‘incidents’ that afternoon.

I told Lola that if we go skating again in the future, she must wear a helmet. I told her that her well-being was more precious to me than her embarrassment at wearing head protection. She loves skating so much she was in total agreement with this idea.

One of my friends at work had made the comment one day that I should roll Lola in bubble wrap before she does any sports activities. I laughed at the time but now I’m beginning to think it’s not such a bad idea…