Raising Girls Who Ski

 Today we skied with the girls and Two Fish and I took turns doing runs higher up on the hill.  When I am a single rider on a busy ski day, I end up riding the lifts with people from all over the country.  It's interesting to jump into conversations with them on a myriad of topics. I find that skiers are generally interesting and pleasant (at least those who have moved beyond their teens.) It is never dull to have these random 10 minute chats with perfect strangers I will never see again.

One man that I rode up with was talking with me about raising daughters.  He came from a family of all boys and has one little girl in the middle of a pack of boys, all of whom are skiers.  We chatted about how much confidence and love of adventure can be cultivated through learning to ski as a little girl.  He was telling me that when he and his wife were expecting their daughter they felt like they need to totally readdress their parenting and what they would want out of life for their daughter.  They came to the conclusion that they wanted the same things for their daughter as they did for their sons.  They wanted her to be tough, brave, smart and have the confidence to take on anything.

That confidence to take on any obstacle or goal is something I have thought a lot about while raising my daughters.  I really don't want them to grow up wussy.  I want them to know they can do anything they put their mind to.  I don't want them to be afraid to try new things.  I want them to be tough, brave and feminine.  I want them to be proud to be girls.  I want them to be smart and well educated.  I want so much for them.  Obviously they can be all of these things without learning to ski but it certainly doesn't hurt.

 It was a beautiful day on the mountain.  Presidents Day is the biggest ski day of the year but the crowds didn't bother us too much.  New Fish doesn't need us to hold onto her harness anymore and we are just using the leashes to help guide her and keep her from falling too hard.  She is started to make turns on her own although it is much easier for her to turn right than left.  It will come to her.  Mostly, I'm just happy that she is so excited about it and willing to try it over and over.  She kept asking me: "Am I skiing great Mom?" or "Was that a great fall Mom?"  She totally crashed in the afternoon and took a long nap in the lodge while Two Fish and I took turns skiing.

We took a couple of runs with Red Fish at the end of her ski lesson.  She has made so much improvement over the past few weeks.  It's amazing.  She is zipping down green circles and a few easy blue squares.  Today she was taking all of these side paths through the trees and going off jumps.  It was a little scary to watch her.  She is going to be such an awesome little skier.  She is well on her way to be just the kind of woman I hope she will be.

I love sharing this sport with my family.  It brings back a lot of fun memories of being a kid and skiing with my Dad and brothers.  (We still ski together sometimes.) All of those good times skiing with my family are a big part of the reason that the mountains are my happy place in all four seasons.