This is my Do. And today, there\u2019s this fact hanging in the air: at max speed coming down the mountain, even I, as a mom, find it hard to catch up with him.<\/p>\n
But four years ago, everything was very different.
\nGiving in to my husband\u2019s coaxing and reluctantly gathering the gear we had just bought with heavy hearts, we planned a trip to the mountains.
\n\u201cTo feel the Alps,\u201d a name that sounded fancy, and after watching a few YouTube videos of snowboarders flying down snowy mountains at wind speed\u2026 we decided we\u2019d be like them too.<\/p>\n
Well, they looked beautiful. Stylish. Energetic. From the side, it seemed so easy how they maneuvered their boards. And the boards themselves were beautiful. Colorful. Each one unique.<\/p>\n
To feel more confident, we first went to the Druskininkai Snow Arena and took a coach\u2019s lesson, immediately standing on the slope grinning like frogs.
\nA young coach arrived, holding a board under his arm, looking almost like the ones we\u2019d seen on YouTube. Smiling, he hopped on the board and effortlessly grinned even wider at the bottom of the slope.
\n\u201cNow you,\u201d he said,
\n\u201cFirst lesson: we learn to fall.\u201d
\n\u201cLearn\u2026 what???\u201d my inner voice roared in nine dragons.
\nI wanted to ride, not learn to fall.<\/p>\n
Long story short? The lesson was a failure. I learned neither to fall nor to ride properly. We chalked it up to the mountain\u2019s slope being too short and the lesson too brief.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll go to the Alps\u2014that\u2019s where\u2026\u201d
\nAnd so we went.<\/p>\n
The three of us, full of enthusiasm, arrived in the Alps and got on the first lift\u2026
\nWhere the attendant tried to explain that the board must be attached to the foot while getting on the lift.
\nBut with language barriers and probably too much rookie clumsiness, we were allowed to hold our boards by hand.<\/p>\n
We reached the top\u2026 and realized the request to strap the board to one foot was the least of our worries.
\nLooking around, we saw we were at the top of a red run, and there was no other way down.
\nWhat did we do? We went down.
\nOn the SEATS!!!<\/p>\n
Having safely reached the bottom and checked each other\u2019s pants\u2019 behinds, we confirmed none of them were torn through and continued our descent.<\/p>\n
I still remember that sunny day, those insanely tall mountains, their grandeur, and our helplessness in front of them.
\nWe strapped a six-year-old Do to a board and said:
\n\u201cOkay, son, get up.\u201d
\nHe collapsed like a block.
\nWe lifted him by the armpits, and he tried to stand with the board, staring with wide eyes and saying:
\n\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
How can you not be able to do it, coming 2000+ km to the Alps!
\nAnd then \u201cI can\u2019t\u201d had to become \u201cI can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being snowboard \u201cpros\u201d ourselves, we took on the role of teaching our child.
\nI don\u2019t remember all the details of that first day, but I know precisely that after half a day of struggle, we were begging the kind lift operator to get us down with all the boards we had.
\nWe returned to the hotel by some bus.
\nAnd all three of us fell asleep.<\/p>\n
The next morning, having accepted that we were still far from the snowboarders we\u2019d seen on YouTube, and that just \u201cfeeling the Alps\u201d doesn\u2019t grant skill\u2026 we packed our nerves into the luggage, extracted maximum patience from them, and started the teacher-student routine.<\/p>\n
We fell and got up. Rolled and shook ourselves, stood again. Flew down and lying on the snow, wondered if I was still alive and had all my teeth\u2026 we brushed off the snow and tried again.<\/p>\n
Amid all these attempts, our six-year-old took his first steps on the board.
\nThere were moments I thought that climbing a high mountain with him, bent knees, trying to catch him\u2014I\u2019d literally cough out my lungs.
\nI thought I would never, ever agree to be a ski instructor for anyone in my life!
\nAnd yet, for him\u2014I was.<\/p>\n
Today, trying to keep up with my four-year-standing-on-a-board Do, I admired how bravely he carves down the mountain, joyfully jumping over snow mounds, riding as smoothly as us, and never once saying, \u201cI\u2019m tired,\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t want to,\u201d or \u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I tenderly touched his sore muscles in the most impossible places and asked:
\n\u201cDoes it hurt?\u201d
\nHis short, clipped answer: NO\u2026<\/p>\n
He reminds me that I have something to be proud of in life.
\nNext to me, I have a little snowboarder, like the ones we saw on YouTube, gliding down the mountain with ease and wind in his hair.<\/p>\n
Kiss your juniors goodnight.
\nThere\u2019s pride to be had.<\/p>\n
V.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-17553","istorija","type-istorija","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija\/17553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/istorija"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}