I live next door to a five-year old. It’s fun to see her growing up; she has a different temperament than YA had as a child. On Thursday, she was sporting a brand new pink helmet and then her dad took the training wheels off her bike.
They started in the backyard, on the grass – doesn’t every parent do this, hoping for a softer landing than on concrete? On Saturday, they went up to the high school, where there is a lot more flat grass. Then on Sunday afternoon, as she was working on it in the driveway, her dad let go of the seat and she was biking! She practiced for about another 30 minutes; she still needs a little shove to get going but other than that, she’s got it!
It made me think about YA learning to ride a bike. We didn’t even try in our yard, since it’s very bumpy, but we did practice at the high school. YA was not a natural rider and for a couple of weeks she was incapable of seeing an obstacle and then being able to avoid it. I remember thinking that learning to ride a bike is way more complicated than it appears on the surface.
I was five when I learned, starting in the grass like my little neighbor did and eventually graduating to the elementary school parking lot. I still remember the thrill of realizing that my dad wasn’t holding me up any longer and I was flying along on my own. According to Nonny, I fell and scraped my knee rather badly but I don’t remember that part at all, just the wind on my face and my legs pumping the pedals!
Do you remember learning to ride a bike?




