Monday, May 31, 2010

Look mom, no training wheels

Yesterday, while I had my back turned, Will learned to ride a bike.

It's a bike that's too small for him, but mom thought that would be perfect for learning since Will could just put his feet down rather than falling as he got the hang of things. So I took the boys over to the school parking lot across the street from our house. Will went to work trying to scoot himself along on the bike until he was ready to put his feet up on the pedals. I gave him a couple pointers on steering and getting up enough speed to make balancing easier.

Then Owen called to me to come over to where he was pushing around a stroller, and as I was walking away from Will, he was shouting in excitement, "Mom, I'm riding my bike!" And sure enough, he was.

I'd always pictured pushing him along and then letting him go, but this was much simpler. And he made the big bike leap just a few hundred yards from the enormous basketball court and concrete playground where I learned to ride my own bike about 29 years ago. If we had this learning-to-bike paradise near us in Columbus, Will probably would have mastered a year or two ago.

No comments: