Another milestone

On a hot and steamy summer evening, in an empty church parking lot, Devlin reached another milestone - riding a bicycle sans training wheels.
After a full year of riding with the aid of the training wheels, and seeing his classmates ride two-wheelers, Devlin declared himself ready to start riding without the training wheels. His nanny Rose took off the wheels every once in awhile to practise, and Mommy promised to take him to the church parking lot one afternoon. Unfortunately, the weekend was filled with too many events and we never made it to the parking lot. But tonight, on our one night free of sports, Devlin badgered us to take him.
So after dinner, on a humid and warm evening where we'd much rather have spent in an air conditioned room, we all marched down the street to the church lot. The wheels had been taken off by Daddy, and Mommy held the bike steady while Devlin climbed on. I held the seat while he placed his feet on the pedals, and then ran along, bent over and holding onto the seat as he started pedaling around the lot. Nervously, he kept glancing back to reassure himself I was still holding on, and that resulted in some wobbles.
"Look straight ahead! Don't look back! Hold your handlebars steady!" I shouted as I jogged along. And then, I let go and Devlin kept riding. Of course, once he realized I wasn't holding on, he panicked, and instead of braking, he put his feet down and stopped the bike by dragging his feet along. His beloved canvas shoes (a gift from Auntie Grace) are now completely worn and falling apart.
So, we started the whole process again. Before he knew it, I had let go,  but I ran beside him, shouting out encouragement and coached him through braking properly. His next stop was more graceful, and a passer-by clapped and cheered Devlin's efforts. Emboldened by this, he eagerly got back on, and pedalled a longer distance. By now, Daddy and his sisters had arrived at the lot with a tricycle in tow, and now he was showing off. We went from 10 meters to pedalling around the lot in a loop with Mommy and Daddy running laps. On and on and on. Eventually Ceilidh announced she had to pee but Devlin wasn't ready to leave yet. So, Daddy and Ceilidh left but Mommy and Aisling stayed to watch Devlin as he grinned while he pedalled.
"I can't wait to show Rose. I can't wait to tell Uncle Billy! Mommy, can you wake me up early so I can ride my bike tomorrow morning while you run?"
There were a few spills, two near collisions with his sisters and one late braking that resulted in making contact with a basketball pole. Instead of becoming discouraged and whining, he climbed back on with a little bit of urging on my part and started pedalling again.
It was a moment of achievement for a six year old boy and a parental milestone too. Although most of us would think teaching a child to ride a bicycle as a basic parental duty, along with toilet training and working a zipper, not all parents would agree. In fact, there is a company (staffed by phys-ed students) that will come to your home and teach your children how to ride a two wheeler!
As I watched my first-born ride around the parking lot, it brought back memories of when I learned to ride a two-wheeler. In a similar fashion, my dad held onto the back of my seat and ran along as I pedalled nervously. And just I had done with Devlin, my dad let go of the seat without my knowledge. I don't know how long I was riding the bike on my own, but at one point I glanced into the shadows and saw that my dad wasn't hanging on. That was when I lost my balance and fell and scraped my knee. Instead of letting me go and cry, my dad make me get back on the bike and try again. And again, and again. Before I knew it, I was riding a two-wheeler all by myself.
So, in tried and true fashion, whenever Devlin lost his balance, I made him get back on the bike. In less time that we all expected, he was riding with confidence, shouting joyously, "I am awesome! This is soooo cool! Totally cool! Look, I'm riding a bike all by myself!"