Ultra Proud Parental Moment

Last summer it was swimming - my ultra proud parental moment. It's that moment you first witness your child doing something independently, that they have either learned with your assistance, or on their own.  It's an accomplishment. It's a milestone. It's also a tear-jerker as you realize you're child is growing up.

I won't lie. We had to push a little harder on the bike riding than we wanted to. Kaleb was not motivated AT ALL to ride without training wheels. Probably not uncommon. A few months back I found a YouTube video on how to teach a child to ride. Their concept was simple. Remove the pedals and let them first learn to balance by gliding on the bike and making the bike go by using their feet to push themselves. So, we took the pedals off.

Problem. Kaleb wasn't too excited to get himself going fast enough to try to balance. Our neighborhood has a perfect learning spot, with a slight hill and then a nice gradual downslope. That became our start point. Problem. Kaleb kept putting his feet down to stop himself, not allowing for him to get going fast enough or long enough to work on the balancing act. I was getting frustrated. Eric was getting frustrated. We tried not to let our frustration show. Should we nudge (okay, push) or stop and let him just keep riding on the trainers?

In my moment of frustration and sheer "you can do this kid," I suggested that if he doesn't quit putting his feet down, we'll have to take off his shoes. Well, I really didn't mean that, but as soon as I said it, I knew Eric was going to do it. So there I was, warning my child that if he put his feet down, they would get scraped up. Did he understand that? This could be genius. This could be disastrous.

And then it happened. He had no control except to steer and balance. He was not in control of stopping himself, yet in control of balancing. The first time he glided without shoes he went a few feet. The second time, 50 yards and the 3rd, well, he went all the way to the bottom of our subdivision - on his OWN - with daddy running right beside.

He was ecstatic - confident. I was holding back tears. Eric was puffed up with pride. It was time for pedals and shoes. Eric threw them back on and we went back to work. Kaleb's attitude had changed. He WANTED to keep going. First time with pedals and shoes, he went to the bottom of the subdivision, again. Then, turned around and PEDALED back UP the hill. He had put it together. It clicked in his little mind. Removing the shoes was ---- genius.