c spot: it's got me thinkin'

why must i be "THAT" person? that one that gets all philosophical about learning to ride a bike? i don't remember learning to ride a bike. all i remember is that i rode a bike. and i rode that blue, banana seated bike everywhere. i rode it to swim team practice. i rode it to friend's houses. i rode it around the block. i rode it on the bumpidy bumps. (that was an area of grass and dirt that we would ride over when we passed the ditch on family bike rides.) my bike was my first tangible taste of freedom. oh...i could go places...me and my bike. we could go places. the possibilities were endless.

somehow...i am blessed with children who refused to do anything that make them feel the least bit out of control. rides at amusement parks...a polite no thanks. roller skating...nope. ice skating...terror followed by me forcing the issue...followed by them all being stuck at various positions around the rink...followed by tears...followed by angry, blame games of "YOU MADE ME DO THIS AND I HATE IT!!!!"...followed by me dragging them in, one by one. riding bikes........

forget about it.

they have slowly come around. amusement parks are fine now. any form of skating is still totally out. but they have finally started taking slow sips of freedom and have tasted the magic that is riding a bike.

colt learned a long time ago...but always refused to do any real riding until chad started asking him to go along on trout's runs. but we thought that chase and aiden would permanently weld those training wheels in place. every time i would suggest taking them off...aiden would simply reply,

"nope."

i am usually not of the philosophy of "forcing" a kid to do anything. but...last week, chad told the kids every few days that on saturday morning, he was taking them up to the school parking lot and that they were going to learn to ride their bikes. i stayed quiet...letting chad gently force his children to face and let go of their paralyzing fear.

when saturday morning rolled around...you wouldn't believe how fast the knee and elbow pads came out. they acted like they were getting ready to compete in the X games or something.

you may know that "fear" runs in the family. i blame chad. just kidding...the man doesn't have fear issues in the slightest. it's all me. i may not be scared of riding a bike, or ice skating (remember when i took those lessons a couple of years ago???)...or any other physical activity. but the "fearing things that you have no control over" thing???? well...i get it. and for a kid...the physical "out of control" is all they know. their little hearts haven't even begun to think about losing someone they love...or tragedy. they think the world is over if they can't find their glasses. money doesn't ever cross their minds...much less world issues like starvation, child abuse, or things like sex trafficking.

why should we be surprised that they assert their fears into the tangible?

tangible things that they don't feel in control of........

like a two-wheeled bicycle traveling at...what feels to them...as warp speed?

i knew that chad wouldn't let go until he was sure chase was ready. and when i saw him let go of him...the very first time...i felt a wealth of emotion rise up inside. i was proud of my boy. i was thankful that his father was right beside him and that he was wise enough to know when chase was ready. it got me thinking.

obviously not too hard to hop on that bike and make myself look like a rodeo clown in the hopes of persuading aiden to join in on all the fun.

she had her doubts. and sister was right there with the get away car. just in case.

(they're tight, like that.)

mr. freedom had it down. he was half way to dallas, at this point.

she's none-to thrilled with this entire ordeal.

after chad ran around the parking lot a couple 100 times with her screaming,

"DON'T LET GO"

every 2 seconds...

i gave it a whirl.

friend's came out in support.

and for some reason...she just kept insisting that she do it alone. she didn't want any help. she didn't want any support. she didn't want anyone to get her going and then let go. and she wouldn't accept that it was going to be a lot harder to get going that way. she would not believe that if she would just "trust us"...it would be easier.