Two-wheeling

Off and on for the last couple of years, Cady Gray has been trying to learn to ride a bike.  She's been motivated, but I've been inconsistent.  If we had taken a whole afternoon to work on it last summer, she could have mastered it, but instead I tended to parcel my supervision out in twenty-minute chunks, where we were just able to make a little progress or simply remind ourselves of lessons from last time.

My philosophy has been that when she's ready, it will be easy for her.  And today it happened.  I've been using this training handle to help Cady Gray get the feel of balancing, running along behind her.  There was a palpable shift halfway through our ride today; I could tell that she was balancing and steering instinctively not just every once in a while, but consistently.  And so finally I let go and let her ride completely on her own.  As Archer ran alongside, rating her form ("Perfect!"), she crowed in excitement, almost losing her tenuous grip on balance.

I asked her to write about the experience.  Here's what she gave me:

Today, A miricale happened.  Today is the day I leaned to ride my bike.  On a two-wheeler.  Part of the way without my mom's help.  And my brother tagged along too.  It made me feel happy.  It made me feel glad.  It made me feel cheerful.  Not gloomy or sad!