We had a skipping teacher in school today. She worked with a group of older pupils and I sat in on the  demonstration they gave to the whole school. The energy of the performers was electric and the spectators were obviously pretty impressed. I expect there will be a big demand for the skipping ropes tomorrow in the playground  – which is of course a great result.

I was sharing this story with a friend at my hip hop dancing class this evening. She is a wee bit older than me and our daughters went to school together and are now graduates so the children in school are probably 2 generations from us.

We recalled how we learned to skip. I remember doing all sorts of skipping games in our school playground. Eleanor remembers learning at Brownies. Everybody – well the girls anyway – could skip. I think my Mum even taught me before I went to school.

 Of course childhood obesity is a big issue and anything that can be done to make exercise attractive must be applauded – I just wonder where we  lost the ability to simply pass on these pastimes.

But then – Eleanor and I were at hip hop classes – generationally that’s probably not quite right either. So let’s get over it. 

I might be fighting the bairns for the ropes tomorrow myself.