Skater Buds

With the holiday season bearing down on us, my husband and I decided to sit down last night and ponder what gifts to give our children. Our youngest son Bradley is in fourth grade, and he’s already expressed interest in being a scientist some day. As encouraging as those aspirations are, I can’t help but feel that the boy has missed out on a few of the highlights of childhood. He spends so much time conducting experiments with baking soda and vinegar that he doesn’t play outside enough.

This year, we’re putting our foot down and making sure that Bradley lives the carefree life of a kid his age. And that means choosing the perfect youth skate shoe for his Christmas present. It’s our hope that he will grow up to be a well-rounded, well-adjusted individual, which requires a wealth of experience. He has more than enough time to pursue his science, but childhood is fleeting.

“Adrenaline junkie” is an understatement, and “daredevil” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Someone might need to come up with an even stronger way to describe Dirk Auer, the German man who made history in July by skating down a rollercoaster track. Auer rode the rails of a coaster in Stuttgart, traveling 2,821 feet in a minute flat. That’s more than half a mile of track.

While few of us mere mortals could hope to compete with Auer’s feats of derring-do, just donning a pair of roller skate shoes provides a thrill on a more manageable scale. Skate shoes are great for getting in shape and exercising without realizing that you’re actually engaged in a workout. Why not save the roller coasters for the pros and the crazies.