"to pass from one point, thing, subject, etc., to another, disregarding or omitting what intervenes"
I had to re-learn what skipping was, and needed my daughter to teach me. Similar to trigonometry, if you don't use it you lose it. By the definition above, I realized it had become far more difficult for me to disregard or omit what intervened between two points.
4 year old daughters can be exceptional at omitting what intervenes, and they sure can skip like a pro.
My wife and oldest daughter came down ill, and my youngest had an appointment to remove her stitches. I was tasked with handling the rescheduled appointment, and taking number 2 to this impending terror. Peppering began with numerous questions about the experience before we went, including, "will she be using a knife?" , "if no knife will she be using scissors?", "Will she poke me with the scissors she will be using?" , "Will I cry?" I calmly answered, and offered up my opinion that I knew the doctor would be very careful. There was uneasiness in her eyes. After some additional inquisition, we pulled in to the clinic, and I removed her from the car seat. Her hand clamped tighter than usual onto my hand, as a little bit of snow flurried down creating a damp parking lot as it melted into small puddles. Before beginning to walk, I heard a large sigh from deuce, and she looked up and smiled, and asked me to skip with her.
Brain went potato
"Honey there are lots of puddles and I don't think we should...."
A gigantic smile with teeth peered out from above the bandage over her chin. It was then I took a long look at the outfit she had chosen herself to wear for this event. Today's ensemble included multi-plasma colored tennis shoes and leggings that were very logical because it was cold. She wore a gymnastics leotard, fully bearing her guns. She was tugging on a light jacket to cover herself before we walked, and as the jacket swung around, I noticed the piece de resistance, a pink tutu that struck me as the duct tape of any 4 year old girl's attire. We were moving past items that intervened.
"Let's do this"
Our hands grasped tightly and the puddles didn't stand a chance. In the 150' from camry to revolving door of joyful happiness, we skipped hand in hand, floating up and down like a carousel horse. Cars paused for us, either hoping I would stop bouncing or out of sheer entertainment, I remain unsure nor did I care. The smile and enjoyment I watched as my daughter flew through the air, was refreshing.
Fear gone, the stitches flew out easily and were retained for show and tell in a plastic tinkle cup with a lid. This elicited a chuckle from Dr. Jill, who had made the judgement call and asked the pro skipper if we wanted to save the "bows" she was taking out for any reason. I pictured a K3 teacher's eyebrow elevating in a day or two, or perhaps a call from the principal about proper show and tell items.
All smiles, we exited the rotating egress with a few extra laps in the glass, and I don't have to tell you how we migrated back to the car. Hot chocolate was in order, as a reward for facing a new challenge, and for reminding me to move past obstacles
Re-learn to Skip, or teach your daughter if they have never learned or have forgotten it.
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