Roller Boogie

My oldest went to a (girl) classmate's birthday party today. It was a roller skating party to which the entire class was invited, my son being one of four boys (representin'!) who showed up.

He's never been on skates before*, and he was incredibly hesitant, doubting his ability to achieve skatehood. He spent the first half hour holding onto the rail the whole way around. Then I went and helped him for an hour or so. By the time we left, he believed, and was able to take the leap of faith required to skate alone off the rail. Awkward, but he did it.

gumption
noun, informal
1. Boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness.
2. Guts; spunk.
3. Common sense.
"gumption." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com GuruNet Corp. 15 Oct. 2005. http://www.answers.com/topic/gumption

*However, he has one false memory of having skated while shopping alone in a grocery store, something he saw on a commercial once and somehow appropriated as his own experience in his memory. He really believes he did this, so, when asked if it was his first time skating, he relayed "his" experience rollerskating through a grocery store.