When kids cave under the pressure of COVID lockdowns, it turns out skateboarding can help – writes Virginia Trioli
“I’m not doing it. I’m not.”
His little mouth was set at 20 past seven, his eyes were brimming, and my husband and I felt like we teetered right on the edge of what he was plummeting towards.
Another lockdown, another pile of remote schooling materials lugged home, another kid in tears on a cold winter’s eve. A blunt refusal to do it all again, and well-meaning but equally exhausted parents standing there, wringing their hands.
I’ve seen this movie before. I didn’t like it the first time.
There’s an interesting tipping point in the age of your kids when you realise you can’t make them do anything anymore. Can’t put them on your hip and walk them out the door. Can’t put them in the car, the pram, the crib. Can’t even bribe them, dammit.
So, when the nine-year-old says no, flat-out no, to lockdown number six, to home learning, to social distancing, to staying away from his friends — what do you do?
Well, if you start very gently, it turns out that skateboarding can help.
The rosy-cheeked, golden-haired young Olympian Keegan Palmer, who skates with the ease and joy of a carefree child, will never know it but he was the only thing that got us through the eve of Lockdown 6.0.
Watching him fly and find clear air that seemingly has both solidity and lift is thrilling, magical. His exuberant bear-hugs for every one of his competitors, his hands-in-the-air astonishment at a massive score and then his shining smile with a gold medal around his neck all felt miraculous to see, like discovering a hidden escape hatch from the grim world all around.
So, a little Olympics (thank God for the Tokyo Olympics, it turns out), a cup of hot chocolate, a cuddle in the dark and then merciful sleep took all the rest away.
