Thursday, May 10, 2012

Abstaining


Mr. & Mrs. Munson have officially abstained from teaching their son to ride a bike.
By definition, it is to hold oneself back voluntarily, especially from something regarded as improper or unhealthy. It became unhealthy in the fact that Brady had no drive or ambition to learn and we, his parents, really wanted him to learn. He hated it, he would cry, he would complain that he was “too nervous” but we stuck to our guns from last summer and said we are not putting the training wheels back on and clearly he almost breaks the baby seat attached to my bike. So we were at a stand off until a neighbor told me about a bike riding class that “guarantees” they will be riding after then end of a two hour class.  I know I know …..Teaching your kid to ride a bike is one of those milestones of parenting, right? Well there were no scrapped knees to kiss and say “you’ll get it next time” and no jumps of excitement as he finally got it, just tears and frustration. So in typical modern day fashion we threw our hands up and said “okay you try!” I wasn’t proud but we signed him up for a bunch of gym instructors to teach our kid to ride a bike. Brady was actually quite excited for the class as he has recently seen some of his peeps riding and couldn’t join in on the fun.
Well I dropped him off with his bike, helmet and a water bottle and tried to give him my best “you can do it” speech, as I was still a bit skeptical at this point, I mean what do these people know that we as his parents don’t?

Apparently a lot! I snuck back a half hour early to watch and low and behold my little bugs was cruising the parking lot in circles. I have never seen a bigger smile on this kids face as he was beaming with confidence and pride. Literally every night since he is requesting to go for a bike ride!

Best $30 we ever spent!


Please note in the video that after 20 minutes of now riding a bike the first thing he says to the first passer by on training wheels is  "Hi Josie, I am on a two wheeler" Oh Vey.