"Guess what, Mom! It's the skating party tonight!"
I remember skating parties. Don't you? Remember how awesome they were?
You'd talk about it at school, then coordinate your ride to the rink with your friends, because it was so much cooler to get dropped off at Skate King with somebody else's mom. And when you got there you'd be putting on those brown skates with the bright orange wheels and toe stopper (because your mom still wouldn't buy you the uber-cool light blue, Nike shoe skates like the ones Michelle had....) As you laced up, you really weren't paying attention to what you were doing because you were actually looking around to see who else was there......
.....Marc G.
Then you'd glide out onto that super shiny wood floor with the flashing strobe lights and the red shag carpet covering all the walls. You practiced skating in your garage at home, so on this big floor you really blew it up. ABBA rockin' the speakers, hair whipping around, smiling big. It was like flying. Surely Marc G. would see you and fall instantly in love the moment he walked in the door.
And then they'd turn the lights down and announce that it was time for the Snowball. You'd anxiously take your place against the carpet wall and wait for Marc G. to come around and ask you to skate with him. He'd take your hand and glide you around while your hair continued to billow softly over your shoulders and all of your friends glared jealously because they were all secretly in love with him too and couldn't believe that you ended up landing him for the super big Skate King Snowball.
Then you'd wonder why Marc G. stopping down there? I'm over here, Marc. No! That's not me. That's Monica T! What are you doing? Don't you remember? I'm the love of your life. No. No. NOOOOO!!!!
Hmm? I'm sorry. It was so long ago. I can barely remember.
Let's move on.
So, my daughter wanted to hit up the skating party last night. It's her first year in school, so I've really tried to make sure she's able to participate in everything that she's interested in. We haven't been to a skating party in three years, which was the last time that my son showed any interest in skating, so I was ready to get my wheels on.
"No, Mom. I want to do it myself," she said to me.
"Ummm, you've never been on skates before," I told her.
"I can do it!"
Trying to convince her that skating was a lot harder than she thought it was going to be, would have been phenomenally simpler than trying to convince my son and his father to get in the car.
"Come on, you guys! Let's be social. It'll be fun!"
"Gross." Prince Charming never wants me to have any fun.
I did manage to wrangle them in the truck under the promise that I'd buy them each a red licorice rope as a treat.
Did you know that they don't sell red licorice ropes at the skating rink anymore? They also don't let you drop your kids off at the door, either. Things have really changed, you know? And not in a good way, either. There was no ABBA. There were no red shag carpet walls. There was no Snowball. There was, however, something called a Couples Skate, during which my son made us change partners because it's apparently totally lame to be walked around the rink by your dad during the Couples Skate. The girl with the beautiful hair who sits in front of you in class might think you're a dork. It's way cooler to be desperately clinging to your mom's arm so you won't fall down while she walks your around the rink during the Couples Skate. It might make the girl with the beautiful hair kind of jealous and maybe take a little bit more notice of you.
It totally didn't, but just that he thought that and was willing to risk being seen with me in front of anyone else to possibly make it happen made me happy.
But as much as things had changed at the skating party, they still stayed the same.
Brown skates with bright orange wheels and a toe stop.
Flashing strobe lights.
Bumpin' music on the speakers.
And a girlie who, all night long, kept saying, "He's not here, Mom. He said he was going to come. Where is he?"
This next part of the story is slightly dangerous because I really don't like to use this forum to mock or make fun of anyone other than myself. And Prince Charming. Oh, and my kids....sometimes. But this...this just really needs to be told.
As I was walking my daughter around the rink (because, as it turns out, skating is a lot harder than she thought it was), I happened to glance over at my dreamy beloved, and I noticed that he was talking to another dad from my daughter's class. We walked around the rink again, and they were still talking. Once more time around. Still talking.
Great, I thought. It's nice that he's connecting with someone here. It really made me feel like we were working our way into the social structure of the school.
After the guy left, I stopped back at our table.
"Please sit down with me," PC said.
"What...Why?"
He scanned around kind of nervously. "He said he was going to come back."
You see, while I was Movin' Like Jagger around the rink, this was conversation that PC was having with his new friend:
The Guy: Hey! You're my daughter's friend's dad, right? What's your name?
And PC told him his name.
The Guy repeated it back and said: Right! I'm terrible with names.
Then the guy talked about what he does for a living.
The Guy: I'm sorry. What did you say your name was again?
And PC told him his name again.
The Guy repeated it back again and said: Right! Sorry! I'm terrible with names.
Then the guy talked more about what was going on his life. At one point while he was chattering on, PC had an itch on his face, so he wiped at it with the back of his hand.
The Guy said: I'm sorry. Did I spit on you?
I swear I'm not making this up.
PC: Oh no. I just had an itch.
The Guy: I'm sorry. What was your name again?
And PC told him his name again, and I'm totally not kidding,
The Guy repeated it back and said: I'm sorry. I'm terrible with names.
Seven times they had that same conversation! Seven! PC counted.
Finally, The Guy said: It's great to see another dad at one of these things. I'm going to skate for a bit, but, I'd love to come back and talk to you some more.
PC: Okay...sure...
The Guy: Great. I'll catch up with you later, Frank.
PC's name is not Frank. It's not even close.
But I can totally see why he wanted me to sit down with him. And why he was so willing to be my partner when I asked the girl DJ to do Snowball~Old School Style.
And we weren't even wearing skates.
Skating parties rule.
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