So your kid wants to skate. Welcome to the club. I'm 48, and the first time my son Jack, who is 8, and I skated was in August of 2010. He had been given a skateboard the previous Christmas and had never used it until one day he came home and said, "I want to go to the skatepark.
My wife took him during the day and when I got home from work he demanded I go back with them so I could watch him. Of course I couldn't just stand there and watch - I had to try it myself. Before you could say wipeout! we were hooked.
The problem was, we didn't know what we were doing. How to tighten wheels, or do tricks, or what safety equipment to wear. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the internet and talking to other skaters trying to figure out what we should and should not be doing, as well as what we did, and did not need to buy.
In the course of hanging out at the skateparks, I also discovered a bunch of parents who had the very same questions I had. So I decided to put it all down in writing on a blog so I could just pass it on to anyone who needs it.
