Will the Conquerer

Will takes after his mama when it comes to change (he doesn’t like it) and learning new things (he doesn’t like to). Last summer, however, Will conquered swimming and soccer (if you define “conquered swimming” as is no longer afraid of the water and makes forward progress with dog paddle motions and face in water and “conquered soccer” as participates in practice and games instead of screaming bloody murder on the sideline). This summer, we’re working on bike riding.

Will was very nervous on his bike. He wouldn’t ride up hills. He wouldn’t ride down hills. He wouldn’t ride around sharp corners. He wouldn’t ride on grass or gravel or over bumps in the sidewalk. So basically he wouldn’t ride.

And then I mentioned to Will that perhaps his preschool might hold a trike-a-thon. Will’s preschool in AA held a trike-a-thon last year, and preparing for the event was the push Will needed to learn to confidently ride his tricycle. I have absolutely no idea whether or not Will’s preschool here will hold a trike-a-thon, but I figured that preparing for the event, should it come up, might help Will learn to confidently ride his bike.

We started out going around the block v..e..r..y s..l..o..w..l..y. Will got off his bike and walked it around corners, over manhole covers, and around a basketball hoop that partially blocked the sidewalk. He also came to a complete stop at every single driveway, not because he was being safe, but because heaven forbid his bike reach speeds beyond ¼ of a mile per hour. After a week or so, Will graduated to riding around the block without stopping, and after another week Tom, Will, and I biked (Princess Hallie rode in the Chariot) around a small, paved loop at a nearby park. Just last week Will finally rode his bike to our neighborhood playground about a ¼ of a mile from our house. Success!



Trying to keep up.


But bike riding success brought about a new problem – I can’t keep up with my little speedster. What’s a mom to do when one child won’t stop…



…and one child won’t go?



Sit down and take pictures, that's what.