New Bike, No Training Wheels

You may remember, that Garrison received a bike for his 3rd birthday. Well, that was only 6 months ago and he was already ready for an upgrade. He chose a bright green X Games bike. It suits him well, with his love of extreme sports. It even came with pegs for all the tricks I am sure he will be doing soon!

When we got home, M took off his training wheels and off he went. I was skeptical about his lil 3 yr old body riding and balancing on a larger bike. But he managed just fine. 

Here's the thing. Its awesome that both kids hit the milestone of riding a bike without training wheels so early (Grayson was 4). But, as a parent, what makes me really proud is there determination and perseverance. They both have taken some falls and I mean serious falls (skinned up knees, elbows, palms, etc). When this happens, they literally pick themselves back up, brush themselves off, sometimes ask for a Band-aid, and get right back on! The more experienced they are at riding, the more they learn to fall without getting hurt. While, yes, it's awesome they are riding bikes, getting exercise, and out in sunshine. I don't focus on that though. What I see is success for them. That they know that they can do whatever they set their minds to. That they know that sometimes in life they are going to fall down, but it's important to get right back up and try again. That they have learned from their previous mistakes when falling and found how to fall without incident. That's what makes me proud. Whether they learned to ride bikes at 3, 4, 5, or 9 (like me, he he) - they believe in themselves!