It's Like Riding a Bike

This past month, Mister learned to ride his bike without training wheels. As I watched him, sweat beading his forehead by the rim of his helmet, struggle again and again to balance the weight of his bike while getting enough of a push to get going (since he is too small to be able to sit fully upright on the seat and touch the ground at the same time), I decided that I don’t really like the phrase, “It’s like riding a bike.” The phrase is usually used to refer to something that’s easy to do or something that’s never forgotten. But to Mister, riding a bike is a huge accomplishment right now. There are few things that are really easy to do, never forgotten. In the beginning, of course, nothing is easy to do until we practice it enough. And by the time we reach the never-to-be-forgotten stage, we usually have forgotten the most important part—that the learning was difficult, full of effort. So, congratulations, Mister, on your hard work! I’m glad you recorded in your Sunday journal what “it’s like riding a bike” was for you this month: "This is me riding my bike. This week I learned how to ride my bike without training wheels. At first I was scared, but then I learned to be happy and to go fast."