Roller Boot Beauties

I was born in the Eighties and putting shell suits to one side, what a fantastic era it was. Crimped hair, bright clothes and roller boots. Brilliant!

I can remember childhood summer evenings as if it was yesterday. Tea time was during Home & Away at 5.10pm followed by Neighbours at 5.35pm. The theme tune kicking in at 5.57pm was my cue to leap out of my seat, grab my roller boots from the cupboard and sit on the bottom step fastening them up as quickly as I could. I’d race into the porch and look to the right to make sure my next door neighbour and best friend Lisa was in her porch with her roller boots on too. It was like a daily race to see who could be out the quickest. We’d skate up and down the street and round and round the block until dusk and could hear our Mam’s calling us back home. Of course you didn’t have elbow pads, knee pads or helmets back then, you just fell over and jumped back up again. I’m sure we must have been covered in bruises but we absolutely loved it and I can’t help but think what great exercise it must have been. This went on for years and I loved roller skating that much I still have a pair that fit so I must have been a decent age when I stopped whizzing around the streets in them.

My kids were invited to a roller rink party and I must admit I was dreading it as a previous failed attempt had me with a bad back after leaning over to keep them both horizontal and not doing the splits. I shouldn’t have worried. Slow and steady really did win the race this time as my son spent the first half of the party going round with Daddy holding onto him and by the second half was skating independently and even doing a few dance moves. Success! My little girl, who’s only 4 still needed to hold my hand by the end of the party but she was so much steadier. They both had a brilliant time and are desperate to go again so Santa Claus might just be bringing them some roller boots each (and knee pads and elbow pads of course! It’s not the eighties! Ha!).

Anyway – the point in me writing this is I’m so tempted to take up roller skating again and my fellow Mum friend Rachel over at MummaHub is too. Are we too old? Is it frowned upon to take to the streets in your roller boots when you’re a grown up?! How cool would we be to the kids if we rocked up to collect them from school in our roller boots? Obviously at this point I realise every other person in the school yard over the age of 10 would be thinking ‘look at those two idiots in their roller boots’ but is it do-able? Can we bring back roller skating and it be acceptable for Mums to join in too?

I’ll update you if we pluck up the courage to do it!

Mutha Fitness

Mutha Fitness is a blog to share my weight loss story so far. I'm a 30 something Mum embarking upon a journey of general health, fitness and overall wellbeing.