It’s rare that I get to learn new things alongside Athena, but last weekend we took snowboarding lessons together in Mont Sutton, Quebec. We fell together, we stood together, and we learned to carve together. It was remarkable to watch how quickly she picked it up. She really taught me how miraculous children are at learning new skills. They truly are little sponges soaking it all up. 

Our lesson started with the basics like how to put the snowboard on our feet and how to move with the board on flat surfaces. Once we were capable of moving with one foot strapped into the board, we went to the top of the bunny hill to practice control on a slope.

Our instructor was very patient with us, taking her time to make sure we had good form. Athena was hesitant at first but even when she fell, she hopped back up and listened intently on how to get better.

Within an hour, she had her balance and she was confident enough to go down the hill with very little help.

I, on the other hand, managed to get a lot of great photos of people’s skies because I spent a lot of time on the ground.

Athena was substantially better than me and it made me realize just how quickly she takes everything in, especially considering so much of what she is doing is new to her.

I’m not giving up and I think that both snowboarding and skiing will be our favorite way to enjoy the long winters in Canada, but I will need a few more lessons before I’m ready to go on any real hills.

Until then, I don’t mind the view from down here.