I could not skip. I could walk, run, jump—even pogo-stick hop—but I just could not master skipping. Now I still don’t think this should be considered a failure in one’s childhood, but skipping was a clear expectation of the adults in my social hierarchy. My kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ligon, had a definite thing about every child knowing how to skip.
We were expected to skip around the May Pole at our Kindergarten May Day Celebration when all our parents and grandparents came to watch. My mother worked with me. My teachers worked with me. I watched other children skipping away. But skipping just made no sense to me. Well, it made sense to my brain, but it did not simultaneously make sense to my feet. My brain would think, “There, you’ve got it. You’re skipping,” but my feet just could never carry out that message.
May Day came and there were sprightly little girls (there was no expectation that boys would skip in those days) joyfully skipping around the May Pole—except for that one little girl RUNNING and HOPPING and DANCING around the May Pole. That one little girl was me. I could accomplish a variety of leg and foot actions— EXCEPT skipping. I could not skip.
I don’t know how old I was when I finally got the mind-body ability on how to skip, but it never happened around that kindergarten May Pole.
I was not anti-skipping. I wanted to skip, but on the other hand I have never been all that bothered when I do not fit into or meet required expectations. I will try my very best, but if my best isn’t up to your expectations…well, I hope you can live with your disappointment.
I don’t think my kindergarten teacher was being mean. She obviously knew there were certain skills young children need to learn. Here’s what I learned on Wikipedia:
Skipping is a fundamental movement skill that should be learned in early childhood. It is a locomotor skill that involves the use of other more basic skills to perform such as running and hopping. As a result, skipping is generally the last fundamental locomotor skill to develop.
I was definitely a late bloomer when it came to skipping. Today I suppose one might consult with YouTube videos the way we do when we want to fix a broken knob on the washing machine or learn how to cook salmon. But alas! My skipping days were way before YouTube.
Even though I could not skip, I loved running and hopping around the May Pole. I loved the circle game of SKIP TO MY LOU. It is said that Abraham Lincoln loved SKIP TO MY LOU as well. (I wonder if he could skip?). When dancing was not looked upon favorably by religious folks, play party games like Skip to My Lou became quite popular. It’s interesting that dancing was frowned upon, but a circle game based on stealing someone’s partner was quite acceptable. “Lou” is a derivative of the Scottish word, “Loo,” which means love.
So what’s the moral of this story?
You don’t have to be good at something to have fun or enjoy yourself and be happy in life. Sometimes others try to squish us into the tight box of failure or disappointment; but all we have to do is refuse to climb into that box or if pushed in, just climb right out.
Run and hop and sing—skip if you can. It’s pure joy to just celebrate the wonderful unique person we each are.
Here’s my own version of the Skip to my Lou song:
Run, run, run to my Lou
Hop, hop, hop to my Lou
Dance, dance, dance to my Lou
Be yourself, my darlin’!
Loved this. I was glad I could skip and felt like a race horse when I skipped with with students during my assistant teaching days. I agree that boys weren't expected to skip--they could just be disdainful of dancing games--but secretly, they liked dancing.
I don't remember not being able to skip but I also don't remember kids being taught or expected to skip. I just knew how to do it and I liked to do it. Maybe it was a North/South thing. I also never saw a maypole until John Rouleau asked me to help him set one up at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington, Vt. It was fun but I kept getting all caught up in the ribbons and couldn't remember when I was supposed to duck for the upcoming ribbon. But it was a lot of laughs for sure.