The fact that I have never really enjoyed watching a hockey game makes me a pretty bad Canadian. Add to it that I never learned how to skate makes me the worst Canadian.

I can count the number of times I went skating as a child on one hand. Most of them were part of a gym class so they were mandatory. When I took my skates off in the n10th grade I never put them back on again, and the one time I considered learning I fell down a flight of stairs and took that as a sign. My skills we always lacking, and my stopping skills were non-existent.

10 years after I hung up my skates, I was faced with a 2-year-old who desperately wanted to skate. But because he was so young, I was able to skate by – haha See what I did there – with just my shoes while he was learning. By this time last year, it became clear that I needed to learn how to skate.

Lucky for me Santa left a brand new pair of figure skates with my name on it last year. – Can you hear the eye roll? – so, off to the rink we went.

Now, I won’t say I’m a great skater, yet, but I am getting better every time. Just like Hunter who can literally skate circles around me. I can confidently go from one end of the ice to the other, and I have almost figured out how to stop properly. I took Hunters skating lessons and applied them to myself.

Here’s what worked for me:

Walk like a penguin – You’re going to look ridiculous, BUT, it helps you keep your balance while still learning how to place your feet. Put your heels together and walk exactly like a penguin would.

Keep your hands and arms out – Just like a tightrope walker uses a pole to keep their centre of gravity, use your arms to keep yours.

Keep by the boards – This will, at least at first, act like a security blanket. If you start to lose your balance you can grab on to them.

Stay near the way off – Skating is hard; Especially at first. There is nothing worse than having sore feet and legs and then realizing you have to go all the way back to the other end, of what seems like an Olympic sized, arena before you can get off.

1,2,3, glide – Take 3 quick steps and then glide. Soon you’ll be able to reduce that to 1,2 glide then 1, glide and then with enough time glide,

Make Snow – stand in one spot and push outwards with your skate, scraping the top layer off the ice. This is the basic premise for stopping. Eventually, you will be able to incorporate this into movement and stop.

WEAR A HELMET – I can not stress this enough, and I really should practice what I preach, but that ice is hard. One good fall could be disastrous.

If you have a choice, I suggest learning as a child when your body recovers fast and you don’t hurt so much. But, if like me, you are ready to learn now I hope these help. While I probably won’t ever skate as well as my avid hockey player of a son, I can at least hold my own now.

How old were you when you learned to skate?