Cocky Little ........

Last time I took Arthur ice-skating, a couple of years ago, he spent the whole time whining about the boots being too big or too small, despite changing sizes four or five times, and falling over. Despite that, he's  hounded me ever since to take him ice-skating again. Today I relented, dreading what was in for me.

Things didn't look too promising at first. It took him about forty minutes before he could move without holding onto the wall. However, things progressed quickly from there. It didn't take long for him to master his old man's masterpiece (moving forward with a modicum of speed and grace without falling down), after which he quickly mastered how to move along the ice while touching the floor with his fingertips, followed by jumping on one foot. 

Arthur encouraged me to learn these tricks too but I was quite happy to go round and round with a modicum of speed and grace without falling down. Besides, it was great to feel cold for the first time in weeks; too much expenditure of effort would have ruined that.