E can ride a two-wheeler!! No more training wheels! A few days ago Brennan and his dad were out running errands when E asked to ride his bike. I decided, since there were tools lying around, to raise his training wheels a bit. BUT that wasn’t good enough for E. He wanted them OFF! He said he was not a baby anymore and that I could save those for the next one. That made me laugh.
So, alright… I took those baby training wheels off and eager E jumped on his bike as I held the handlebars and seat. I began the mom thing - instructing and cautioning - preparing him for the worst.
“…and if you fall down you just gotta get back up and do it again, because everyone falls down when they are learning.”
SO running behind this invincible 4 yr-old, holding the seat… he was off. “Whet go!” he yells. Okay. So, I did. Running alongside to catch him. He got it. He really got the "go" part. The tricky part came to "stopping." Slamming your brakes with training wheels was no biggy, but on a two-wheeler that means you also have to catch yourself. So he learned the basics: pedal, coast, brake, catch.
He went up and down the road (a large hill.) E’s favorite thing to say was, “Wook! I keep making you run!” He just loved seeing me chase after him. Hot. Sweaty. Yep - a funny spectacle of a mother for any onlookers, I’m sure. After way too many times up and down that road hill, E was ready for Brennan to come home. It was going to be his BIG surprise! He warned everyone not to tell Brennan. Only he would get that honor.
Brennan and his dad finally arrive home. E could barely contain himself. He ran up to him,“I have a surprise!!! I can ride a two-wheeler! Wook!” as he held up his training wheels. He also handed him a plastic fireman's hat full of eggs that he had gathered the day before at an Easter egg hunt. He said that they were his and Brennan's to share. It was his "first surprise." So proud.
Now it was time for E to show Brennan he could ride without the training wheels. This time I thought, now E gets to make him run. Yep, that’s what they did. Up and down the road hill. Precious.
(This is the first of what may be many guest blogs by my wife and side-by-side guide in life, A.)
