“Removing the training wheels”

Do you remember the day you learnt how to ride a bike? The rush of the unknown the excitement, the worry or the scared feeling? Maybe the fearless feeling or just the sheer rush of adrenaline and happiness, or was it just the memory you hold on to because you remember who taught you or how they taught you and how amazing it felt when you finally got it right no matter how many times you fell or got hurt that day?
Yesturday while I watched my husband teach our daughter how to ride her bike without the training wheels I realised something, that maybe I need to remove the training wheels from my own life…. A metaphor I know but so appropriate. While we took the training wheels off her bike, I realised I must do the same!

She reminded me of something, that you need to be fearless sometimes, you need to take that first step, you need to approach things with the wind in your hair and a care free attitude and that you need to do new things although they seem scary on the other side is a something new, you’ll come out a different person, maybe a little bruised from a fall or two but at the end you would of learnt something, maybe not what you wanted or thought you would learn but definitely something will be learned from it. The unknown and doing something without a safety net is probably the scariest thing in the world.

Training wheels, I see them as the attachments of our life, the excess baggage, the things holding us back from a faster ride, a higher high, a freer life, freedom to do and go where we want, to so things the way we want and not let go, so yesterday I decided to take the training wheels off of my own life, How? Well you’ll just have to wait and see….

On another note, I’ve noted these 6 tips when teaching your child to ride a bike..

 
1) Let them lead the way, don’t push them to do more than they are ready to do.
2) Talk them through the process, step by step. Explain the process as well as tell them they may get hurt or not get it the first few times but its ok.
3) Make sure you put safety first, helmets, knee guards, and a soft area (grass is ideal) for the first time.
4) Balance is key, as well as steering. Focus on these two things.
5) Praise them, reassure them constantly!
6) Lastly, be prepared to watch them fall, they will get back up though, I promise!

When did you first learn how to ride a bike?

Yours in Mommyhood,
Mama N.