"Yes, You Can!"
How to Motivate Little Ones to Hit the Slopes

By Tammie Thompson

I admit it. I am one of those parents who push my child. Maybe it's my impatience - the rest of us are avid skiers. Or maybe I just want her to enjoy it as much as we do. Whatever the reason, I was determined to get Hailey on the slopes.

We started last year when she was two and a half. With great balance, I was able to get her to glide and walk a bit on skis. We rode the lift (her favorite part) and stopped after two runs as she had enough. Hailey's first season was a mild success.

So this season I had my mind made up that Hailey would be cruising the mountain and I would have the freedom I so craved. Wrong. First it was the lack of snow. Then it was too much snow. Enough excuses, her brother was in Mighty Mites at her age - let's get on with it. So we embarked full of enthusiasm. That lasted all of ten minutes. "I'm cold. I don't like skiing. Hold me. Carry me. Take my skis off." You get the idea. We worked on pizza pies, railroad tracks, sliding and gliding. "I'm hungry." And that was the end of it.

So I decided to turn the future fate of the sport over to the professionals. At age three and a half, not many ski schools offer a program with ski option (see Northstar and Tahoe Donner for some good ones). We chose to go the route of a private lesson. Dana was full of enthusiasm… Hailey was not. The tears started and we postponed it to another day.

I did the work up and preparation. Skiing is great. Let's read a ski book (A Very Young Skier by Jill Krementz). How wonderful you look in your pink ski outfit. And we were ready for round two. More tears…this was costing me money. The entire ride to the mountain was full of tears. I happened to have the new Snow Monsters tape in the car. I popped it in and we entered the world of Hannah and Grady, along with Picabo Street, who went on a ski adventure. Full of music ("There's a snow monster waiting in the mountains, in the mountains, there's a snow monster waiting in the mountains and the snow monster makes it fun, they're the ones who make the snow white, winter wouldn't look right if it were purple" ) we started singing along and I got a giggle or two. The snow monsters, powder pigs and snow fairies did the trick. Hailey put a brave face on and headed out to her lesson, pink powder suit and all. She's not really linking any turns, but the precedence has been set… so it's onward and upward snow snakes and all.

Judging your child's willingness to hit the slopes is a tough job. Try, try and try some more. Eventually they will be tearing it up like pros. Patience and perseverance is the key to success.

Try the Snow Monster tape or CD - it worked for us! Order directly from Snow Monsters.

Archived: February 28, 2000