Until recently, Charlotte was stuck between two bikes. She was too big for her tricycle, yet too small for her hand-me-down, 16-inch bike from her cousin (it’s her ideal bike in terms of looks – pink, purple, and blue, with multicolored tassels/strands shooting out the ends of the handle bars.)
But when she tried out her friend Drew’s 12-inch bike, it was a perfect fit. She experienced a bike riding epiphany of sorts. She was able to pedal, albeit slowly, balanced high above the pavement (with the assistance of training wheels). She was on top of the world. Even with the training wheels, it definitely had the look and feel of a ‘big girl’ bike. (Actually, the bike she was riding was more of a stereotypical ‘big boy bike,’ designed to look like a dirt bike.)
We realized we needed to get her a bike of that size, and soon. Either that or be responsible for slowing the development of her bike riding skills.
Karen quickly found one on Craig’s List. When Charlotte discovered her new bike in the garage, it was love at first sight. She immediately jumped on it (with some assistance), and began pedaling (again, with some assistance.)
Upon seeing our friends and neighbors playing in their yard near their driveway, a popular biking locale, she asked me to carry her bike over for her. (Their driveway is slightly uphill from ours – hey, she’s not Lance Armstrong, yet.) She was very anxious to show off her ‘new’ bike and ride it with her friends.
Unfortunately, the other kids weren’t in a bike-riding mood. Charlotte would ride her bike for a minute or two, then run around in the yard with the other kids (engaged in some strange version of tackle tag in the wet grass that was getting them all soaked), then run back to the driveway to ride her bike for a minute or two, then run around with the other kids. It was a vicious, play-filled cycle.
Desperate to ride her new bike with her friends, she attempted numerous times to get them to ride their bikes, using several versions of the following:
“Hey, everyone, I have an idea! Let’s ride our bikes!”
“Hey, everyone, follow me! Let’s ride our bikes!”
Each time, the other kids would begin to head for the driveway, then get distracted and start tackling each other again, playing tag, or just running around aimlessly. Poor Charlotte. She was so close to biking nirvana.
After her several failed attempts, she looked at me and asked, “Dad, how come they don’t want to ride their bikes?”
While she was somewhat disappointed, she was ok, but no dad likes to see his little girl disappointed. I tried to say all the right things:
“Charlotte, don’t worry, they just don’t want to ride their bikes right now.”
“If they don’t want to ride today, they’ll definitely want to ride in the next day or two.”
“Charlotte, have some fun playing in the yard now, and you’ll have plenty of time in the next couple of days to ride your bike with your friends. ”
Because after all, you know what they say about riding a bike.
I hope you enjoyed today’s serving of ‘mac & cheese.’
June 3, 2009 at 7:31 pm |
awww….poor charlotte. tell her aunt kate and nora will “ride” with her next time we come to your house.