I once saw a woman drop her kid from her arms, trip on her toepick and fall on the kid!
If I can get the rink guard's eye, I point it out. Rink guard takes care of it.
But sometimes there's no guard, or the guard is inattentive, or isn't looking in my direction.
What to do?
The other day, right in front of me, I saw a dad holding his daughter in one arm and taking a selfie while standing on the ice.
I skated casually up and said, "You and your kid look so great together. I can take a picture of you together." Dad puts kid down, hands me phone, I take picture. When I hand the phone back I said, "I just want to mention it's dangerous to carry a kid on ice."
A variation of this could work on almost every situation. Offer to take a picture, the adult will put the kid down to find the phone. I mean, GENIUS! and it ought to work!
Oh, this irks me to no end. I am super comfortable on the ice, but I will NOT carry my daughter on there!
ReplyDeleteDo you feel the guards at your rink will take action on their own if they see this?
DeleteGuards? Your rink is much fancier than mine :) Some sessions we are lucky if there is an employee at all...
DeleteThere is actually a sign now that says "do not carry your child on the ice" but it gets ignored. Just like the one that says "do not hang from net".
I have actually carried a few children on the ice, when I was teaching learn to skate. But mostly, I try to position their feet and just push them to do my best to model not picking up kids. (I'll also admit to having picked up a few kids to spin them.)
That is really scary. When my kids were little, I would not carry them, either. I've been skating for years and I can barely carry myself on the ice. Most of the rinks around here don't have guards, unfortunately, so no one here to say anything--that is good of you to tell them in such a kind way. I'd be tempted to hiss.
ReplyDeleteWe had a pretty competent hockey guy wearing his infant in one of those baby-holding contraptions on the front of him. Terrifying.
ReplyDeleteNo guard, so I went to the front office, let them know, and pointed out that all the women on the session were mandatory reporters, so it would be best if the rink got him to take the baby off his body.
He did. And the other skaters thanked me for saving them from having to report the young dad to Child Protective Services.
Staff at my rink always make a big announcement via loudspeaker if they see an adult carrying their kid on the ice......and it's always the adults who can't skate themselves who are doing it. I also shake my head at the adults who can't seem to afford 75 cents for a locker and are out trying to skate with a big backpack or giant purse on their body.
ReplyDeleteOnly 9 more days until my rink closes for renovation until November. :(
Nancy
Wouldn't carry a child either. I did see one of the coaches pick up a student who had tumbled and was distressed (howling). Coach then carried the student to her mum. I did wonder at the time if it was a good idea, but, I don't think the child was going to get off the ice any other way.
ReplyDeleteCoaches and sometimes the rink guards (the steady strong ones) carry kids in emergencies at my rink.
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