Talk about a flashback!

I just got back from taking my son to a birthday party at Rollerworld.

It was pretty much the same -- dark, dirty, and crazy loud. But wow, was it a sensory overload bringing me back to the days when rollerskating was THE thing to do! All I could hear in my head while the lights were flashing was "Funkytown" by LIPPS, Inc. That song was the epitome of the rollerskating craze.

It also occurred to me that so many kids really don't know how to skate! My own son, now 7 - had his first rollerskaing experience today. Which put him in the majority it seemed. Funny to think, considering when I was 7 years old, I was rollerskating up and down HUGE hills in my neighborhood. When I would wipe out - I'd take pieces of flesh off! I'd be bleeding, but that didn't stop me...as I got older, I tried imitating axle jumps because you know, I was convinced that I was going to be in the Olympics for Rollerskating; as if there ever was truly such an event.

But nowadays, kids don't have the accessibility to play outdoors for hours on end unsupervised. Truthfully, a child gets their best form of playtime that isn't in a group sport - in a time frame that best suits the adult who's supervising them. It's not like when I was little when we'd go out and just play...unsupervised in a fenced yard, or quiet street.

I think I'm going to take both my kids to a rollerskating rink soon - and I'll be able to skate around with them as well. And though it might be Fergie or someone else singing in the background, you can be sure that this girl will be hearing "Born to Be Alive" in her head the whole time....