Pride Comes Before (and After) a Fall

As Caed took the ice this afternoon, his adoring fan (Dani) squealed with delight, pressing her nose against the glass, yelling “Cae!!", I sat on the sidelines with Dani, squealing on the inside with pure parental pride at my little Gretzky. This was Caed’s first time on skates, and I wasn’t sure if he would love it or hate it. Thanks to Daddy’s patient hunched-over, hand-holding technique, Caed had a ball. He even skated a bit all by himself, and wasn’t phased a bit by falling. In fact, he was beaming with pride, both before and after his falls.

When all was said and done, he proclaimed that he “loved hockey” and that he wanted to do it again tomorrow. Later, as Dad was reading to him before bed, I overheard him say, “I am s’atin’, Daddy.” A bit bewildered at why my 3 yr old had just confessed to being the devil himself, I rounded the corner and heard the rest: “I’m s’atin’ past the zamboni! I’m goin’ sooo fast!!!” Ahhh, that’s my boy--a little devil on skates.