We have a BIKE RIDER!!! | Carnton Plantation | Franklin, TN Family Photographer

Our boy is officially a bike rider!  I could not be more proud of him.  And you know what?  I’m proud of myself too. 

We started this bike-riding journey with the obligatory red tricycle, sunshade included.  He loved it when I pushed him, but never wanted to learn to pedal it.  I thought maybe he needed a big wheel?  But I never bought it.  Then he got a bicycle for Christmas.  He loved it, thought it was so cool...until he tried to get on it.  It wobbled because of the training wheels, and he was done with it.

Any time we tried to ride it, he freaked out.  And I usually did too.  He would not attempt at pedaling the times I could get him to actually sit on the seat. He made me so annoyed.  I could not understand why he would not try to pedal the damn thing, just try for one minute!  And then I looked back on pictures I took of him crying on his tricycle many years ago, and I thought about how stressful it felt to make him ride his bike.  It wasn’t worth it even if it had been working.

When preschool had bike day, we were elated to learn he actually got on and rode it!  All those other kids riding their bikes did the trick, but we quickly learned when the kids were gone, he got scared again.  One day while he was really giving it a good effort, one side of the training wheels became really loose and wobbly.  Scared again, he gave up.  But this time, I just chilled about it.  I stopped in that moment and took a deep breath.  My meditation work was finally kicking in!!

We talked about what it would be like to ride a bicycle, how he could ride with Daddy and other kids in the neighborhood.  I told him to not let being scared stop him from trying something new.  Most importantly, I was patient and loving and firm that he needed to try.  I encouraged him to talk to me about why he was scared.  And he did, and we made a plan to make him feel more comfortable.  He just got on the sucker and has barely gotten off.  I could not be more proud of him, and I make sure I tell him often.  I told myself too.  

For a few weeks, he did revert back to panic while on his bicycle and making lots of excuses why he didn’t want to ride.  Kids don’t always make sense, but some days, I don’t either.  Currently, he is riding again.  Yesterday, we rode to the neighborhood pool and back, and even though he had a few tears along the way, he loved it.  And so did I; this is the good stuff from parenting, you can just sit back and watch them grow right before your eyes.  The sweet and the sour.