Bike Breakthrough

Sunday night, I pushed Holt in the stroller while Houston rode his bike beside me.  We went 2.3 miles.  I found this to be an amazing accomplishment for all three of us!  Tonight, all six of us headed out for another walk/bike ride.  Hayes, once again tried everything to not have to ride his bike.  "I just want to walk, Mom.  I really want to walk."  "Can I just ride my scooter?"  Adam and I both agreed that he needed to ride his bike.  Shortly into our walk, Hayes misjudged the driveway and curb and crashed right into the curb.  Adam gave him a pep talk and he mounted his bike once again.

A quarter of the way into our walk/ride, I actually caught a glimpse of a smile.  Perhaps that crash was exactly what Hayes needed all along.  We were so busy protecting him from a fall that it turned into what he feared most.  Once he fell and realized he could survive, it boosted his confidence.

We went around the block and as we began getting close to home, he asked, "Can we do that again?!"  That was about the halfway point (almost a full mile) where Adam and Hawkins went home.  I was going to let Hayes go home as well, if he wanted.  "But i still want to ride my bike." he protested.

We made another lap around a different block and neared home once again.  "But I don't want to go home.  I want to keep riding my bike."  So we pressed on.  There was a time where he had stopped and was having some difficulty starting again since we were on a slight hill.  I went over to help him and he politely told me that he did not need my help and he could do it on his own.

We wrapped up our 2.3 miles around 8:10pm on a school night and I explained that we had to go home and brush our teeth.  Time for bed.  He was upset that we had to quit riding.  I promised him that he could ride his bike after school the next day.  "Okay, i want to ride my bike as soon as we get home tomorrow!"