2-1-09.

It's Miracle Day! You don't know how long we have been trying to persuade Bentley to ride his bike without training wheels. He's almost 8! His training wheels have been removed for quite some time - & he has been so leary of riding his bike. We have shown him, helped him, ran with him, I demonstrated on my own bike (yes I have a bike & it's ancient!), we have encouraged him, praised him, blah, blah, blah. To no avail.

Today we went outside. I told him today that he could do nothing outside. Except - ride his bike. He was angry to say the least. And it worked! Woohoo! He got on that puppy & off he went! Yay! I am so proud of him. He did great! He never hit the pavement one time. He teetered & wobbled, but he caught himself every time. He loves it & even asked to ride his bike to school tomorrow (haha...he ain't that good yet & we live too far). And I love it 'cause I was beginning to think he was going to be 14 before he could ride his bike! We're all happy dancing. :)

Bentley is my 'fearful' child. And I don't like it. After he succeeded at riding his bike, I explained to him that he has to let 'being afraid' go. I told him life is all about taking chances & you just have to go for it. Failing is learning. But if you have enough willpower, anyone can succeed. I told him he can accomplish anything in life he hopes to - but he can't do it fearful. Even if fearful, & we all are, aren't we? But you go. You try. You give it your all. You stare that opportunity in the face & you take that chance. And he did! I hope he now understands.

Way to go sweet boy!



(Photo taken on auto (updated - prior I had typed 'manual', but I meant 'auto'), & I think, w/ flash! I did this intentionally because there was no way I was going to mess up the shot of him riding successfully. I wasn't missing this for anything! I wanted to focus on him, not my camera. :)