Yesterday he decided he wanted to "master this thing" as he put it. He pulled the bike out of the garage and worked with it for a little while. Then, after dinner, he and I took a ride to a local park and we worked on it together. He's just inches from riding on his own. I'm barely holding onto the seat when he's riding and when I let go, he can go a few feet and then he wobbles. I can remember when I was younger teaching my brother to ride a two wheel bike in the backyard. I don't recall doing anything special, I just held the back and told him to start pedaling. I must have done something right because he figured it out. Matthew is a different story. First he was scared of falling and now we've overcome that but now with him being older, he has a new set of frustrations. To quote him last night when he told Chris how it went at the park, "I'm just so frustrated! Not at my bike, or the situation, but at myself for not accomplishing this sooner". Such big words for a 10 year old huh? He's so close I just want it to happen for him. Bless his heart, he tried and tried and tried on his own yesterday and he's just a pedal away from taking off. The boy can rollerblade and ice skate, he can master this!!! As his mom, I just want him to take off and see that big grin on his face, that grin that says, Look Mom, I DID IT!
I know that I would have gotten so frustrated yesterday but he didn't. I'm not sure if it's because he's grown up a little or because now HE wants to learn instead of Chris and I wanting him to learn. I'm just so proud of him. At one point yesterday he paused for a brief moment before taking off. He had his head down, and his eyes closed and was saying a quick prayer for strength from above to master this skill. Wow. That makes me even prouder. To know that in times of frustration and disappointment, my son looks up to the Lord for guidance and strength. It was so hard to hold back the tears but I did and off we went, Matthew pedaling away and Mom running along beside.
These are the moments that being the Mom is hard. You want for your kids to master everything they do now, not later, not tomorrow, not next week but now, today. You want them to feel like they accomplished the task at hand. I know that day will come and who knows, it may be this afternoon but either way, I'm going to enjoy every minute that I'm there watching Matthew learn to ride his bike. I would imagine that when he does get that first long solo ride down on his own, you'll hear the whooping and hollaring of excitement all the way on the east coast!
UPDATE 3/19/10 at 4:00pm
As of the writing of this addition to the post above, hold on to your jockey shorts....Matthew is riding his bike!!!! We went to the park right after school and I helped one time, just one and off he went. After that, I was told I wasn't needed anymore and that he could do it on his own. And believe it or not, HE DID!!!! He's out on the neighborhood street riding away so much that I had to create boundaries so he doesn't go around the neighborhood without me knowing. He can go to the stop sign and to the lightpost without me outside. I'm so proud of him! I'll post pictures as soon as Chris gets home with the camera. Chris hasn't even seen him yet. I'm so proud!!! My boy is determined when he wants to be. It took him 2 days to master the task at hand. MMMmm, I wonder, does he get that trait from me???
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