Dh won’t ice skate

[Alwayseatingpringles]

Dd, 7 desperate to go ice skating (has only done it when little on a kids ice rink, holding onto one of the penguin things.
Now she’s a little older, there’s a bigger rink nearby at Christmas. She always asks Dh to go with her and he says no.
i do so many things with Dd, I don’t want to
ice skate, but I feel bad for Dd
Should she try on her own and we watch? I know she would probably need help, all I see is dads helping their kids

Would your Dh do it?

Aibu?

You're both being weird. The sessions are usually only an hour. You can hold onto the side all the way round or get a skate aid. I don't see the big deal. I do lots of things with DC that aren't necessarily my favourite thing (and plenty of things that I love too).

I would never do it. Luckily, no children.
Why should your husband???

I bloody hate ice skating. Last time I went I fractured my elbow. DD loves it and wanted to go 12 years ago but I wouldn't so my mum agreed then my mum broke her wrist. So I wouldn't be pushing anyone to do it! DD skated on her own after that and we got her a few lessons.

If he can't do it then why would he go? Ice skating is tricky for many, and can result in some bad injuries if you're not careful... I can do it - a bit. Not Olympic Gold level a la Torville and Dean, but I can stay upright and whizz around and do S-shapes, and circles, and ice skate backwards. I am a good strong swimmer too. DH cannot and will not go on the ice rink, and he is not keen on swimming. He can swim but rarely goes. So I always did both with mine.

Is there something else your DH could take off you @Alwayseatingpringles , and you do the ice skating?

If neither of you will go, then she will need to join a little club there. Ice skating is not for the faint hearted.

You DO all the other activities with her? Or you take her?

Id happily sit and watch many things (grudgingly) like gymnastics, soft play, dance classes, football.

I definitely wouldn’t be up for joining in with any of them, aside from reading, playing chess, watching a film, or something else like that.

OP, unless you are about to drip feed that your DH is a good skater, it's unreasonable to be miffed with him re the fact that he doesn't want to go ice skating himself. I know that when my DC were little, our local temporary rink offered lessons. Why not see if you can book your DD some lessons? If your DH doesn't do any other activities with your DD, I do think it would be reasonable to ask him to be the one to take your DD to lessons.

Spending an hour clinging onto the side rail/barrier for dear life isn't much fun!

I don't think anyone's being unreasonable not wanting to iceskate. It's dangerous.
Dh won't take the kids because he can't iceskate. I will only take one at a time if they want to iceskate.
My parents never took me iceskating I learnt when I was an adult.

Huh? Is this a thing? I’ve never heard of a school with ice skating

I don’t think you’ve clarified if he can actually skate. If not there’s not much he can offer. If he regularly skates and just won’t take her that’s not great.

my kids ice skate regularly and I do not - hate the whole idea of it. I watch the bags

I tried ice skating once and hated it. I am afraid of falling and the blades terrify me. I also tried skiing once and hated it. I refused to do either with my DC. They seem to have reached adulthood without being too inconvenienced by my refusal to do these things.

I wouldn’t take mine either, hate it and have had slipped discs in the past so avoid things like this where I could easily have a sudden hard fall.
If you already take her to lots of other things and neither you nor dh are willing to take her ice skating the it’s just a case of saying no or finding a friend to send her with.

So it's ok for you not to want to do it, but not for your sh? Sounds a bit hypercritical to me.

Can your DH even skate? If not it would be pretty bloody stupid to send him out with her, what happens if he falls and hurts himself? What if he breaks something and can't drive or work? Do you have income protection insurance?

Next to horse riding it is one of the most dangerous things to try out with zero experience.

I used to skate as a child and a teen, nothing competitive and I can't do jumps etc, but I used to be pretty adept at speed skating. I have seen severed fingers and bad leg breaks happen. There is no way i would send anyone who was not able to hold their own out on the ice with a complete novice.

As others said, pay for lessons for her if she is thay desperate to learn to skate. But reading your posts i think you are talking about those stupid pop up rings with the crappy plastic ice. Honestly they are immensely dangerous. They do not mimic ice and skates do not work the same way at all.

My DH won’t ice skate either, so I took my kids.

Put it this way, my child loves climbing and adventure stuff.

Her dad took her and made her do it all herself. I took her and, even though I'm deathly afraid of heights and had to ask the man to push me off the 4-storey jump, I took her and did it with her. I hated every single second of it, my knuckles were white and my face fixed into a rictus grin, but I did it with her, for her.

Ice skating was the one thing she enjoyed that I loved, so I was happy to do that!

Ice skating is the sport of the devil

My husband broke 2 ribs the one and only time we took our kids ice skating. I also witnessed someone skate over someone’s finger tip 🤢.
I think lessons are the way to go if she’s keen .

They really don't! The massive installed ones at places like Hyde Park use plastic base with a thin sheet of ice over. But the pop up ones at garden centres at local Christmas markets use thick plastic

DH has checked out. He should pull his finger out and take her to something, even if it's not this.

Ice skating is one of those things that looks like a wonderful thing to do - but is actually shit. You're just sensible not taking dd IMO.

Lots of people hate ice skating so I don't blame him or you for not wanting to do it

Can your DH ice skate? Can you @Alwayseatingpringles ?

Not an easy thing as an adult with no experience to do.
I can skate-learned as a child but my Dh would never ever be able to do it.
However he did a lot with the DC when they were little.

I was ice skating with DD (at lapland UK) and a dad fell and broke his wrist.

Can you both go watch her and get someone else to do the skating?

Why haven’t you answered if your husband can actually skate? I assume he can’t which is why you’re not answering.

If he has no skating ability and isn’t confident on the rink it’s understandable he doesn’t want to go.

I’m alright at it and took a bunch of tweens years ago but one of the adults didn’t set foot on the ice and that was perfectly reasonable. Better that than they go on, burst their ankle and then the night turns into a drama. Good to know your limitations.

That said, he need to step up with the other activities. You should sit down with him and have a discussion about it and how it will benefit your child as well as how it’s unfair the way it mostly all falls on you currently.

Why's it a dads job, not an either parent job?
If you're angry that he doesn't do much else with her, why the hell not?!
But you can't expect him to do something you won't yourself.
And yes, one of you should take the poor kid.

Gosh that's terrible! Do you mind me asking if you've been scanned for bone density? As I am a similar age and a bit worried about the impact of menopause on this.