It was a big weekend around here. On Saturday afternoon, my littlest neighbor Marie (5 years old) announced to visiting relatives during a cookout, that she wanted her father to take the training wheels off of her bike. Big sister Minnie had been getting a lot of attention learning to skateboard on the driveway so now it was Minne’s turn.
Surprisingly she caught on very quickly and despite the neighbors having a big driveway, it didn’t take long before everyone had to troop down to the sidewalk in front of the house so she could have a longer runway. And even though I had been a witness to some of this, when I went out to water on Saturday night, Marie hurried over to the fence to announce her big news.
Then on Sunday when I saw her, she announced it again, this time telling me how far she could go (almost 3 houses). Yesterday I got the news yet again when she saw me in the yard cutting the grass. This time she elicited a promise from me that when her dad came out to help her, I would come out on the front steps to watch. Getting ready for this big ride took a bit. Helmet, elbow pads, wrist pads and knee pads; when Dad was going to skin the elbow pads, Marie insisted since older sister had on a full set of pads for her skateboarding.
I remember learning to ride without training wheels. We lived on West Cedar Avenue in Webster Groves, just down the street from the local elementary school. I can still taste the exhilaration I felt when I realized that my dad wasn’t holding onto the back of my bike seat any longer.
Marie’s ride on the front sidewalk went really well. As expected Dad had to run the whole way behind her and had to help with the stopping. We have a slight incline/decline (depending on which direction you’re going) on our block and I did notice that Marie struggled a bit more to stay upright when she was coming UP the incline. But all in all, an impressive beginning for her biking career!
Tell me about a time you mastered something as a child that you were proud of!
Trail Baboon 
I remember learning to tie my shoes, but I cannot say when that was. My first solo adventure on a bicycle was around 1957, at #16 Nakpil, San Lorenzo Village, Makati, Rizal, Metro Manila, Philippines.
I even remember the bike. It belonged to Paul Ledoux next door.
Thanks for the memory.
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I distinctly remember successfully tying my shoes for the first time. It was a few days after I finished Kindergarten.
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I was proud of myself for learning how to ride a bike before my sister (16 months older). She was a bit jealous but soon mastered that skill. I think I was five.
I’m sure I was proud of myself when I pulled my first batch of chocolate chip cookies from the oven under my mother’s watchful eye. Hardest part for a little kid was mixing the dough because it was so thick and dense. But clean up was certainly a blast, not to mention doing regular taste tests of the raw dough to make sure it was good enough,. 😉
I got good grades in school but don’t remember coming home to boast about an A on a test. I don’t think I got good grades just to impress my parents. I just did my best because that’s what we were told to do: Do your homework, study, do the best you can on the tests, and be satisfied with your grade knowing you tried your best (or close to it).
Chris in Owatonna
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I was driven in school and got great grades. I didn’t do it for my parents, but it didn’t hurt that in trying to encourage my younger sister by paying her for good grades, they ended up providing me with a small fortune.
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My parents would not pay for grades, which was common the, because achievement was its own reward. I got mediocre grades K-6 and the got pretty much all A’s after that. My mother did make a food for good grades. My sister got a certain kind of cookie. I got lemon meringue pie. But these were shared with the whole family.
Clyde
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it was an interesting experiment that utterly failed. The offer of money for better grades did absolutely nothing for my sister’s grades and lined my pockets When I would’ve gotten the grades anyway.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons, from JacAnon,
I remember spending many hours in the yard of our house in SW Iowa practicing the hula hoop, executing a summersault, and standing on my head, all of which I mastered. This all was practiced near the forbidden well in front of the house. I was so proud and displayed my skills to anyone who would watchme.
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I remember being extremely proud of myself for the cream puffs filled with vanilla pudding and topped with chocolate sauce that I made entirely from scratch when I was in Grade 5.
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Wowser
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yeah but in Laverne what else is there to do?
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when I was remodeling the bedroom prior to going to pick up YA, I took out both of the sash window windows so that the glass could be replaced and then reinstalled them when they were done. I am extremely proud of that. I’m sure I could probably do it again, but at this point I don’t even remember how. It would have to be google to the rescue.
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Another wowzer!
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I do remember the wobbly bike, and learning to do a cartwheel. I was proud of being able to sew my own doll clothes, by about 5th grade I think.
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Sorry for long url…
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=szqCTC4p&id=DC2432D48FBE5128862D5A4E5C3665E258307C19&thid=OIP.szqCTC4pwE686t4Ki92eCwHaE0&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi.pinimg.com%2foriginals%2f2f%2f67%2fbc%2f2f67bc8f042b79d5fd5761a5ceacc807.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.b33a824c2e29c04ebceade0a8bdd9e0b%3frik%3dGXwwWOJlNlxOWg%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0%26sres%3d1%26sresct%3d1%26srh%3d799%26srw%3d1230&exph=325&expw=500&q=calvin+and+hobbes+bike+attack&simid=607998646382128172&FORM=IRPRST&ck=CFB8142D1F89C1B0DC6AD48FC80BCAF5&selectedIndex=11&itb=0&qpvt=calvin+and+hobbes+bike+attack&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0
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Poor Calvin. We have a little neighbor here named Calvin. He is 4 or 5 years old and really like the cartoon!
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Ooh, you’re not Anon!
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Jacque’s back!
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Only if I use my laptop which is not as convenient as the ipad. But WP will not log me out on the laptop, then allow me to login on the ipad. What a mess.
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It’s Calvin & Hobbes…
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My exbrother taught me how to tie my shoes at age 4. About the only positive memory I have of him. I was proud of learning to drive the tractor at age nine with an extended clutch pedal, then proud of when I did not need the extended pedal. I must have been 12 or so. Also proud of learning to drive the old puddle-jumper pickup (converted from a car) at age 11.
Clyde
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I was a really good student in grade school. The only reward I received for good grades was at the end of first grade. Dad and I walked, hand in hand, down to the local deli so I could choose whatever I wanted on my open faced sandwiches that I would be taking along on a class outing.
At the end of fourth grade, it was recommended by the nuns at the boarding school that I take a test that, if I passed it, would allow me to skip a grade, and enter middle school. The week between taking the test and receiving my score was sheer agony. I feared failing it and incurring my mother’s wrath, and worse, enduring my dad’s disappointment, not to mention my own shame at being such a loser. When I received word that I had passed the test, it wasn’t pride I felt, but immense relief.
Looking back, even now, I feel such compassion for my ten year old self whose only sense of self worth came from excelling. It’s a heavy burden to feel you’re worthy of love and respect, only if you excel at everything you do. The only thing I excelled at in high school was athletics, my grades in just about everything else were average. There isn’t much pride to be derived from excelling in athletics when most of my classmates were nerds or klutzes. I was glad to graduate from high school so I could get out into the real world where everybody wouldn’t know how average I was.
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Klutzes and nerds? Tell us how you really feel.
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average as a word to describe you, PJ has never ever ever ever crossed my mind
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Snort.
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I’m pretty sure I’ve told the story about practicing all summer to learn to do one of those loud piercing whistles. I felt like I’d worked on it for months. I finally achieved it, loudly, in a grocery store in Owatonna, right behind my mom. She abruptly stiffened, turned around and sent me straight out to the car. I sat out there and whistled and whistled, practicing my noisy new skill.
I think the proudest moment for me was waterskiing. It was one thing to get up on two skis and be pulled around behind the boat, but that didn’t last long for me. I got my dad (boat driver) to go in wide circles in front of our house and I learned to drop my right ski, move my bare right foot into the foot holder behind my front foot, lean back and plow a big rooster tail into the water. I think I was 10 or 11 when I achieved slalom skiing. I was very proud of myself and I felt that I had joined a club with the big kids who pulled each other on slalom skis all summer long, leaned into it, and sprayed a wide spray over everyone else.
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Still laughing about the whistle! That is funny. I never learned to water ski despite trying.
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The header photo is so cute!
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It was hard to find. Most of the small children bike pictures had training wheels. And I am not willing to put actual pictures of my neighbor kids on the trail! (Unless it’s Minnie’s back at her piano recital.)
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my friend Mike herboldt had an extra bike I could learn to ride on . The day I said I was ready we pointed the bike downhill and I used the curb to get on the seat and reach the pedals. I pushed off the curb and was able to pedal around for 30 minutes before I returned. I was beaming
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My kindergarten teacher once brought the first grade class into our classroom and had me read to them. My sister taught me to read when I was about three, and I don’t really remember the learning process. I did feel special, though, when my teacher brought the older kids in to listen to me read.
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