Last night, I took my six-year-old daughter roller skating for the first time. I hadn’t been on skates since I was in junior high, but I was happy to learn that it came right back. Though she had never been on roller skates before, the fearless daredevil in my daughter came shining through.

After one circuit around the rink to get her bearings, she was off. I encouraged her to take her time and go at her own pace, which for her is about 60 miles per hour.

My tough little girl didn’t want to hold my hand or edge along the wall. She must have fallen at least forty or fifty times. I winced every time, though she picked herself up and raced right back into the speeding fray. After some particularly nasty falls, I checked to make sure she was okay. She’d shrug me off with remarks like:

“Look how good I can get back up without holding onto anything.”

“Cool. I did the splits on roller skates!”

Within an hour, she was easily as good as any girl twice her age. I think we may have a future roller derby girl on our hands!