August 27, 2010

How to: Congratulate your skater!


This post has been inspired by Ice Mom who recently showed up in my Twitter feed exclaiming her daughter Ice Girl had passed her Intermediate moves test. Congrats! This got me thinking. I remember that lightheaded buzz a skater gets from passing a test. All that preparation, all that concentration, and then the validation we seek in order to keep moving forward, always higher, stronger, harder, in that search for perfection.


I experienced said buzz myself less than a year ago (yes, test sessions are few and far between where I come from!). I can't even remember what I did that day though. I probably went out for lunch (why is it test sessions always seem to start at 6am?!). Maybe I ate a piece of cake I wouldn't normally allow myself. What did you guys do?

As a parent you probably feel it's important to reward your skater after all their effort and hard work pays off. This is a natural and healthy thing to do (in my opinion), and here I'm simply going to list the things my parents did for me over the years, things that stick out in my mind as little treats for doing good.





This post is more of an interactive one than anything, I'm counting on you guys to leave comments so readers of this post can draw even more inspiration from a large network of skaters and skating parents. So get your type on!

For my first ever test pass I got a little diamanté necklace and earring set. I must have been about 9 or 10 years old (oh yes I'm a late starter). I wish I could say I still have it but it's gotten misplaced throughout the various house moves and jewelry box changes of my life. It stays a very fond memory though!

Mainly though, I received home made gifts and heart felt sentiments. My mother is still the best cook I know and would lovingly prepare me my favorite childhood cake - Victoria Sponge with Raspberry jam! Hmm!

I'd get to have my favorite food, salmon mousse. Oh yes, I was a child with taste!

I'm sure I acquired many others little trinkets over the years but nothing sticks out like the warm baths and sweet home made cakes. I think there was a Wallace & Gromit bath plug in there somewhere, and my aunt always used to send me a card with a gift voucher or a small amount of money.

Ideas

So what if you're stuck for ideas for rewarding your child? Well, anything they like doing and don't get much of a chance to seems like a valid idea. Maybe they love McDonalds but you don't take them often (which in my opinion makes perfect sense! Can't stand the place! But I loved it when I was a kid!). There's a treat right there. Or how about rolling up to your town's ice cream parlour and buying a great big sundae?

Jewelry can be a nice gift for a girl especially if she's a girly girl as I am myself. Hopefully she'll be able to treasure it for years to come and will cherish it as her test pass necklace (ring/bracelet/etc).

Whatever you decide just make sure it's a true treat for your kid, they put in the hard work they deserve a true reward!

What do you guys do for your kids test passes/competition successes? I (along with other readers!) would love to hear all about it! Post a comment!

Have any questions, want to know more, don't agree? Please leave me a comment!

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Photo credits:
All photos downloaded from sxc.hu.
Cake by nosheep
Necklace by liqfx

1 comment

  1. Hi, Gigi!

    What a great post! You know...I didn't get Ice Girl anything for passing. Terrible mom, hey?

    She did go to a figure skating seminar the next day with Olympic coaches and had dinner with an Olympic bronze medalist, so I guess that's a reward.

    I also asked Ice Coach to take Ice Girl clothes shopping (school clothes) between practice ice and the test. They gleefully spent every penny I gave Ice Girl! Since that was before the test, though I guess that doesn't count.

    Hmm. I don't suppose it's too late to buy her a pair of earrings.

    Thanks for the great ideas!

    Ice mom

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