What I'm Not

I am a lot of things. I’m a great mom, a fun friend, and a hard worker. I like to climb and run and hike and do cartwheels. I love to chat with friends over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and I love to shop! But there is one thing I learned tonight that I simply am NOT.

I am not, nor do I ever think I will be … that parent who teaches her kid to ride a bike. See this is why kids have two parents. When there’s a weakness, one can compensate for the other. And boy did I need it tonight.

Here’s how my epiphany unfolded. Ben suggested that we go on a family walk / bike ride. I jumped all over it, thinking it’s beautiful out, it will be this picturesque family event and Saylah (who is undoubtedly behind on her bike-riding abilities) can get some practice in.

So, we strap bike helmets to the kids and harness Isaac into the world’s COOLEST bike seat.

WARNING SHAMELESS PRODUCT ENDORSEMENT:

If you are looking for an awesome bike seat, you have to get an iBert! It's a toddler bike seat with legs that straddle the front tire of the bike; just behind the handlebars and just in front of you. I absolutely love it! We've had it since Saylah was a tot. Little ones ride right in front of you and you feel like you have a better chance of protecting or catching them should you topple. And when they are of talking age it is the MOST fun! I’ve had the best little conversations with my girls when they were young enough to ride in the iBert. It’s like perfect bonding time meets getting a lil' bit of workout at the same time. You've got to get one!

Okay, back to the story. So … sweet, picturesque family bike ride in the beautiful Orlando evening.

Ben takes on the job of walking behind and holding on to Saylah’s handlebars as she tries to ride through the neighborhood giving her instruction on balance and steering. I take on role of watching Audrey and cheering on Say. So far, so good.

Saylah starts getting a little whiney about how tough this is so I decide to incentivize her by suggesting we ride to the end of our neighborhood to go see her BFF Laura. Which works well.

So we make it to Laura’s house. I won’t even go in to the story of how we almost had to chop down the Roberts’ magnolia tree in their front yard because Audrey got her knee stuck in the trunk. We’ll save that gem for the next blog. ;) But after we save Audrey’s knee … and the tree … we decide it’s time to head back home.

Feeling bad that Ben had to hunch down the entire way there, I offer to take round two for the way home. This is where I learned that new little nugget about me. Pretty much instead of encouraging mom, soft-spoken guider, perpetual cheerleader, when I instruct a child on riding a bike this little monster comes out of me and I turn into a drill sergeant. For five blocks I barked orders, “Stay straight! Stay off the grass. No whining. Don’t be a quitter! Stop falling.” It wasn’t pretty folks. We made it home and thankfully Saylah is more of an easygoing kid. I DID sprinkle my boot camp M.O. with the occasional compliment so I don’t think I did any permanent damage. But, I’m pretty sure that if I were solely responsible for teaching my children to ride their bikes, they’d probably develop a deep sense of hatred for the sport and end up walking everywhere the rest of their lives.

So that folks, is why kids need two parents; One to teach them how to ride a bike and the other one to watch the remaining kids so as not to put the bike-learner into therapy.