Riding High

Adelie is my child that resists things that she thinks are going to be hard.  I'm not sure if it's a fear of failure or a preference to stay inside her comfort zone, but she has a distinct lack of desire to try certain things.  Reading is one of those activities.  Another is riding her bike without training wheels.  She learned to ride her training wheel-less bike last fall, but has been very resistant to starting back up again this year.  If I insist, there are usually tears and a very short-lived effort.

Last week I took the kids to Bicycle Safety Town.  Adelie cried about going.  She informed me that she was NOT going to ride her bike and was only going to ride her scooter.  When I insisted that she practice her bike for a little bit before she could ride her scooter, there were tears.  There was an insistence that I walk right next to her with my hand on her the entire time.  There were multiple ride-three-feet-and-then-brake efforts.  And then...

she started riding.

And riding...and riding...and riding.  She started out with little laps around one small loop.  Then she branched out to a bigger loop.  Then she started riding all over Safety Town, going up and down the hills and around the entire park.  She was starting by herself.  She was riding multiple loops without stopping.  She was having a blast.  And then she cried when it was time to leave.

Now Adelie can't get enough.  She's riding in the driveway and down the sidewalk and begging to go back to Safety Town.  We went on a bike ride down at the lower lake and she did lap after lap after lap.  She is so proud!!

And so am I!