Thursday, August 7, 2008

Ethan Rode His Bike.

Being a parent is pretty insane. The way I feel about these little monsters is intense and exciting, sometimes really frustrating, lots of times really rewarding. Today, I got to experience one of those amazing firsts.

After several attempts to figure out how to help Ethan deal with his intense fear of falling off his bike and onto the pavement, (I experience the same fear, the ground is HARD! and falling is scary and painful. Did I show you my legs?), a friend suggested something that really helped.

He suggested that I take Ethan to a park, with a gentle slope like our beginners berm at the ski area, and let him practice coasting down a shallow run out. That way if he fell, he'd fall on the soft grass.

We spent yesterday conquering fear, lots of tears and anticipation, and a brief balance break through, and today, Ethan rode his bike. Three times, after working hard to over come his anxiety for almost an hour. No tears today, he looked at me and said "I didn't believe I could do it yesterday. I guess I just need to believe in myself."

WOW. What a kid. Way to go, Ethan, I'm proud of you!

2 comments:

Liat said...

Wow, way to go, Ethan! Congratulations. Great picture, Kate!

a said...

Thanks, Liat! We're gonna go out tomorrow and do it again if you want to come hang out! I'm sure he'd love it. And they had a slackline out, too!