Weekend in the Mountains

Yesterday, it was time for Priya's third ski school lesson. In the morning, she kept saying that she didn't want to ski... blah, blah, blah. What kept running through my head was something my aunt told me last week about what she witnessed that made her think of me. She was skiing at Wisp in Maryland and while in the lodge a woman was talking to her daughter about how she would have to learn to ski because "this family skis and you are a part of this family". So, on the drive to Breckenridge, I used these exact words with Priya. Yeah... I don't think this had any affect on Priya because at the ski school, she could NOT be pryed loose from Daddy's legs. Two different instructors tried to take her back and Daddy tried some sweet talk, but nothing was working. Finally, I begged the instructor to just take her back against her will... turns out she was given some Skittles and the tears dried up quickly. She decided at the end of the day, that maybe she really could get into this skiing thing.

So, today she skiied with Mommy and Daddy and she can do it! She kept a great attitude and of course, as is predictable based on her personality, skiied with caution, control and precision. We accidentally ended up in a lift line that drops you on terrain that includes no beginner trails, so she was forced to ski an intermediate blue. We kinda hid this fact from her to avoid any unwanted reactions at the top of the hill. When we started down, she sensed that there was something different about this slope... it was quite a bit steeper. Her only comment was "Is this a different mountain? I want to go back over to that mountain over there". Once we reached the bottom, I let her in on the secret that the slope was actually a blue square, not a green circle and her eyes lit up in amazement. She looked genuinely proud of herself. We, too, were so proud of her this weekend for overcoming her doubts and fears... we have a lot to learn from this little girl.