This 40-Something Mom Is Learning To Skateboard To Spend More Time With Her Kids

Think back for a second at something you loved to do as a kid. Were you super into Pokemon cards or roller skating or soccer or making friendship bracelets? Now, imagine if your 40-something-year-old mom decided to learn how to skateboard and drop in on a half pipe so she could spend time with you and relate to you better.

That’s exactly what Canadian mom Orbee Roy decided she wanted to do, and it’s about the coolest and most endearing thing ever.

Who is the mom learning to skateboard on TikTok?

Roy’s popular TikTok account give glimpses into a mom learning how to skateboard and going for rides with her family while providing advice to novice skaters.

She also frequently documents her own skateboarding progress. Right now, the fearless mom is working to perfect her ollie (for the uncool parents in the room: this is when you get air with your skateboard without the use of your hands).

“Honestly, I just didn't want to be the mom standing there watching everyone else have fun. So I was like, 'I'm gonna do it too.' I took a couple of lessons. And I just fell in love with it right away," she explained to Mashable.

Five years ago, she started her first classes with a local instructor, which went how a first-time skater’s journey typically goes — lots of falling.

“I tried to drop in, and I fell immediately on my bum, and it hurt. And I was like, 'This is awesome!'" Roy recalled. “It was liberating.”

Despite the fall, Roy continued on. Her husband built her a skating ramp at her parents' house, and now she's a real-life skater. She can successfully drop into 7-foot bowls and land a spinning trick called a "shuvit" on her first try. She's even won skating contests.

Now, she’s working on her ollie and reaching out the TikTok skating community for tips and tricks.

“Hey Skater friends!” she wrote in text-overlay on the clip. “Can you help me (a 40 something year old mom) land Ollies?”

“I started skating when I was 43 so I could spend more tine with my kids. I only skate transition because I keep getting stuck on Ollies, but this summer my goal is to Ollie.”

“I’m not one to give up, but this is hard for me,” she concluded while recording footage of herself attempting to ollie on her board.

How to do an Ollie on a skateboard

The skater community flooded Roy’s comment section with advice and tricks for how to land an ollie.

“I learned in the grass . Was easy traction for myself. Wasn't scared to eat it as much. But you are doing great!” one user wrote.

“Yes! I will try on grass for sure!” Roy replied.

One user noted, “Technically you did Ollie all 4 wheels came up an u landed on it now it’s just practicing getting them up higher”

Roy responded, “YES! you are right!!! I technically did land an Ollie 😊😊😊”

While the comments continued to come in with support and love for Roy, one user’s advice on how to land an ollie went totally viral.

TikTok user, @0okaykay, took a video of himself using his hand and fingers to show the proper foot placement for when attempting an Ollie. He then demonstrates an Ollie himself slowly.

“OK!! Thank you 🥰🥰🥰 the legs jump at different times …?” Roy commented.

“Yeah! Like, front foot goes up, and then you bring your back foot up right when it starts to come off the ground,” the OP replied.

Roy duetted the skater’s demo video — which now has over 1 million views and 101k likes — with hundreds of users noting how amazing Roy is to be learning something like skateboarding and the camaraderie of the skating community is unmatched.

“It’s so simple and he didn’t add any fluff either. A+ tutorial and A++ for you trying to learn! 🥰” one user wrote.

“The skate community still being wholesome makes my heart happy 🥰🥰” another wrote.

The duet just goes to show you how taking an interest in what the kids are into can foster great relationships.

Roy told Mashable that her main goal of sharing her skating journey is to get every able and interested adult on a skateboard, to encourage what she calls “adult play.”

She even started her own Aunty Skates and hosts skating events in the Toronto area.

Roy’s inspiring story hits so many important marks as far as representation goes, especially for older women and moms who may have lost themselves in the duties of keeping a home and raising families. She is also an older woman of color who is taking on a sport traditionally fronted by white men, which is just the most badass thing ever.

“If I'm out there, as an Indian woman in my 40s skateboarding, that representation matters. Seeing that matters... I'm giving them permission to do it,” she explained.