It’s what good moms do. They go to a huge amount of effort and expense to take their children to activities. So, since I’m trying to be a good mom, I made the arrangements to take my children to the homeschool roller skating activity yesterday.

The first hint of a less-than-ideal visit should have been when Luke didn’t even want to go in the first place. Staying home alone wasn’t an option for my reluctant little boy, so he came along and decided to skate.

It all started pretty well, with kids getting skates on and heading out on the floor. But Luke held back, skating back and forth outside the actual rink, saying that the music was too loud. I had to agree, but the music is always loud at roller rinks. I wondered why he couldn’t just accept it and skate anyway. Maybe he would get used to it and head out soon.

Laura and Isaac and Amelia seemed to be having fun, and my two little non-skaters (Mike & Judah) were nicely occupied, so I settled in for two hours of fun.

About fifteen minutes into the skating, the kids were asking about getting snacks at the over-priced snack bar. I was ready for that! So I pulled out the dish of black-eyed peas and brown rice that I had brought along for just this occasion. I wasn’t going to be suckered into paying carnival prices for refreshments. We sat in the snack area and ate our very healthy food, and I sent the kids back out to skate some more.

Fifteen minutes later they were back in asking about snacks again. More black-eyed peas anyone? No? Then go skate. Get a drink from the water fountain. Luke, aren’t you going to skate? I KNOW the music is loud.

By this time several of my children were very happily playing with some other non-skating kids who had brought along a bucketful of action figures. That isn’t why we came to the roller rink! Go skate!

At the half-way mark, one hour into our activity, I was feeling very discouraged. I had made the mistake of saying to the children that I MIGHT purchase a snack to share, and that had been interpreted as a promise to buy snacks. Every time I walked up to the snack bar and saw the prices, I had to walk away again to recover from the shock. How can they charge that much money for candy and still sleep at night???

Finally I asked Isaac if he’d be willing to share a snack with the others if I bought one thing for all of us to share. He was quite willing to share, and I suggested a package of Starburst for all of us. When Isaac asked for specifics, even I had to admit that it sounded pretty lame that each of us would get one or two little squares of candy. Isaac just looked at me, not daring to complain, lest I snatch even that pittance from his grasp.

Finally I grudgingly dragged myself back up to the snack bar yet again, wondering if perhaps this last effort would encourage the children to go back out on the floor and skate!!! I forked over the money for Isaac’s candy, and then let Amelia pick something. Not quite recovered from the gouging, I offered Luke the chance to choose something. He wanted to know about the Tic Tacs, and I said, “Not Tic Tacs!” I couldn’t BEAR to spend the same price as a chocolate bar on a tiny box of Tic Tacs!!!!! But then Luke looked at me and asked simply, “Why not?” That’s when I realized that I might as well let him get the Tic Tacs. That’s what he wanted. OK, fine. Tic Tacs it is.

I realized that my complaining and grumbling about the prices wasn’t really necessary. It was just going to ruin the fun and enjoyment of the snacks. So I stopped lecturing and trying to make the children understand how much more they could get for the money elsewhere.

I told each of the kids to give Mike a few pieces of their candy. That way I wouldn’t have to buy a separate package for Mike. And I wouldn’t get any, so that would be a savings. Silly me!!! Smug in my solutions, I shouldn’t have been surprised that Mike finally figured out that the other kids had gotten their own snack. I explained to him that he had already gotten his snack when the kids gave him some of theirs. But he wanted his OWN snack from the snack bar.

FINE! I stomped back up to the snack bar, fuming inside, while Mike clutched the coins I had given to him. I held him up to the snack bar and helped him choose what he wanted. He paid the man and was delighted with the sparkly package he now held.

I sat back down and hung my head in defeat. I sure was feeling sorry for myself.

Then I picked my head back up and looked around. Mike was sitting in the snack area, all by himself at a table, looking so big and important. Luke was playing with the other little boys, having a wonderful time, especially since he had taken off those uncomfortable skates.

Over the loudspeaker the announcement came that it was time for the limbo. Laura, Isaac and Amelia headed out for the fun. I grabbed my camera and the baby and followed them to watch. They each passed the first round or two, and then Laura and Isaac were disqualified. Amelia and one other girl were the last two contestants left standing… so to speak. One last time they skated toward the bar. Both of them knocked the bar down, and since it was a tie, they both got the prizes of a glow stick. Wow! What a thrill! Isaac was eager to take Amelia up to the counter to claim her prize. Amelia had a renewed interest in skating, especially now that she could admire her pretty treasure the whole while.

So I looked around again. This isn’t how I would have managed it all. If I had done things my way, I would have had four kids skating for two hours fueled by healthy economical snacks. I certainly wouldn’t have wasted admission money for one boy to play with action figures and for other kids to sit around munching on sugar snacks. But now Laura and Isaac were having a blast skating around in the middle of a long chain of skaters holding on to each other. Luke was still having a great time socializing with the other boys, and Amelia was doing her own thing… sometimes skating, sometimes not.

As we were walking out to the van, Isaac was showing me the sweat on his face. Laura was showing off the fun little lighted bauble she had purchased with her own money. And Luke said, “I made a new friend.” Wow. That’s really neat. That makes it worth going to the skating rink.