Saturday, and bribes.......

The morning started like this at about 7 a.m. Dan doing some work on the 'puter and Doodle, well, playing on the 'puter, too.

And then it was off to freezer ass, er, I mean parent-tot ice skate. Actually, there was a haircut for Moo in there, too, but I digress. So we went to skating and all was well. Last week was particularly difficult for Doodle, with lots of falls. She cried, but eventually put her chin up and made it through the entire class. I bribed her with a pretzel from the concession stand and a trip to Narbucks, rhymes with, well, you know, afterwards. I felt a little bad about it, I wanted her to end on a high note.... and, let's face it, I was freezing and my rear was on fire, so the guilt was short lived.

Today was incredible, no falls for either of us. I chatted it up with hockey skate dad today, who likes to show off by stopping suddenly and spraying up the ice and skating backwards. His daughter has made a complete turn around. She's stopped the crying and ditched the red walker thing. I was telling him that last week was bad, and that I bribed Doodle with the junk food and complimented him on his daughter's miraculous progress. He confessed that his daughter hated the first class so much, she didn't want to return. His solution? He bribed his daughter with a trip to toy store (the one with the giraffe) if she would go to class and try to skate without the red walker thing. He says he took her to the store and let her pick out whatever she wanted, no matter the cost! After each class she attends, she gets to go again and pick out a new toy. I refrained from asking him what these skating lessons have cost him, but I'm dying to know. Or maybe, not. The way I see it, we're learning to skate for the pure joy and accomplishment of it. Today, we even forwent the hot cocoa and split the pretzel. By the end, we will be one with the ice and will have achieved total consciousness, so we have that going for us, which is nice. (Any Caddyshack fans out there? No?)

We're gearing up for a movie night, so I'm going to go. I'll try and remember to take some pics of Moo's new do.