SEATTLE — While most toddlers are learning the alphabet and honing fine motor skills, 4-year-old Magnolia Winzen is perfecting her tricks at Seattle skate parks.
"It just makes me happy,” she said.
Her parents Bryce and Angela are as shocked as anyone that their little girl — barely bigger than the skateboard itself — seems such a natural.
Neither of them ever tried the sport. But Magnolia's third birthday wish was a skateboard.
“’It'll just be fun to play with in the driveway’ is what we thought. And yeah — that was not good enough for her,” Angela said, laughing.
"I'm just amazed at what she wants to try," Bryce added.
Magnolia took lessons to learn balance and safety, which quickly revealed the kind of talent that can't be taught.
At Seattle's All Together Skatepark, she nailed a rock-to-fakie on her first try. Before long, she could execute the same trick on a 3-foot high "volcano" at an outdoor park.
"She's learning at such a young age how that perseverance and determination and persistence is just, it pays off,” Angela said. "If you can't do something the first time, you've just got to get up and try it again."
There’s no mistaking the joy Magnolia feels when she lands something new. For her parents, that means everything.
"We talk about chasing your fears away. Just stand up there and say, 'I got this,’” Bryce said. “Then the total excitement when she nails the drop-in or the kick turn of whatever the little trick is she's working on. The absolute pure excitement of 'I did it, and I am so excited with what I was able to do.'”
Angela added, “And the pride. She is so proud of herself. You'll hear the scream, and she'll say, 'I am so proud of myself!' As a parent, that's all you want."
She's not old enough to read a book yet — but Magnolia is already writing her own chapter in skateboarding.
"She can do so much more than I ever thought a 3-year-old or 4-year-old could do,” Angela said. "Your child can probably do more than you think they can."
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