One of Life's Milestones

There are certain milestones in a person's life. Some may be more important than others in the long run, but whenever one happens...it's huge!

Today a milestone in Thalia's life happened...she learned to ride her bike! Oh my gosh, she was SO excited...so was I! We went down to the middle school to begin to learn how to ride. We thought starting on grass, even though it would be slower, would not be quite so scary in case she fell. She got on her bike, I held on to the seat and the handle bar and told her to PEDDLE! She did...until she would forget. After a while I would barely let go of the seat and tell her she had been doing it a little on her own. She was excited.

After a while, I had her just sit on the bike and life her feet up - just to feel herself balanced. Now this was fun! A little confidence was gained...then we started off again...her peddling, me running along beside. Well, it wasn't long before she REALLY did ride a little ways...more confidence...ride a little longer...confidence growing....

Twenty or so minutes into this, she rode about 40 feet. When she realized how far she had ridden, she stopped, and SCREAMED "MIMI I RODE MY BIKE!!!!" The adrenaline was pumping...two more times she rode a good distance...maybe 50 YARDS all by herself. The grin on her face went from ear to ear. "LET'S GO GET JOSH, MIMI."

Off we went...walking the bike back to the house. Thalia was SO EXCITED to tell Josh she had ridden the bike! We got him and headed back to the middle school.

Now Mimis and Dads are different. Josh wanted to know
if she could steer...well, not exactly I said...we were just working on balance, on riding in general. Why was she riding on the grass and not the blacktop...well, the grass is softer. Josh just shook his head and told Thalia to come on over to the black top. Well, she did GREAT...she rode just fine on the blacktop...and when he told her to turn and steer, she did just great again. Um???

The next obstacle was starting on her own. My solution? Just help her until she builds some more confidence. Joshua's solution? Teach her now. He taught her in minutes. She still has a little trouble starting...but she can. She and I went riding today...I might have helped her just a little!