Adventures in Biking

Today we made some exciting progress in the world of biking!  For the first time, Julia and Madeleine were able to ride their bikes to and from the school whose blacktop we use for biking.  This included riding along the sidewalk, as well as through a path in the woods that connects a nearby street to the school field.

However, the road towards this goal was not an easy one.  We were off to an EXTREMELY rocky start.

Neither girl felt confident about riding along the sidewalk.  Madeleine would at least attempt it so long as I held onto her bike.  (I kept secretly letting go, only to have her exclaim, "But are you still holding it Mama?  Mama!  Mama!  I need you to HOLD ONTO MY BIKE!") 

Julia was absolutely panic-stricken.  She managed to face her fears and give it a whirl, and all was going well until we approached an intersection with another street (which happens to be a quiet cul-de-sac with very little traffic.)  Petrified by terror, Julia simply could not face the idea of riding across the intersection. 

Thus began the circus of embarassing ridiculousness that we put on for the neighborhood.  It all started with Julia having a screaming melt-down in the middle of the sidewalk about how she's not READY to try riding across an intersection yet.  I was sympathetic, but had already crossed the intersection while holding onto Madeleine's bike.  Ethan attempted to persuade Julia to head back to the house with him so they could practice on the sidewalks in front of our home first.  Julia couldn't think straight for terror and stood there wailing, only to eventually dart across the intersection and into my arms while Ethan walked home with her bike.  I then began shouting Ethan's name over and over again, while both kids wailed over the fact that Daddy was going away.

Julia eventually returned home with Ethan to try riding circuits around the house, down the driveway, around the front sidewalk, and back around the house.  Madeleine and I made our way towards the school, only to have Madeleine suddenly decide she simply couldn't go on without her sister.  We then stood a block further from where the last screaming fit had occurred, while Madeleine screeched the name of her sister over and over and tried to whistle (which meant she let out a series of shrill vocalizations that she thinks are akin to whistling.)  Madeleine finally concluded we should just go back home and get Julia, only to have Ethan and Julia begin heading down the sidewalk towards the school as we reached the driveway.  Next sobbing melt-down came from Madeleine over the fact that "They're going WITHOUUUUUT UUUUSSSS!"

After Madeleine and I had crossed the street and caught up to Daddy and Julia, Madeleine was suddenly too afraid to ride her own bike on the sidewalk.  As if all of the screaming, shouting and whistling hadn't been enough of a show for the neighbors, I then wound up trying to ride Madeleine's toddler-sized Hello Kitty bicycle with training wheels, stopping at the initial intersection to let several cars pull out onto the road.  I can't even imagine what they must have thought of me.  Hi, neighbors!  Don't mind me!  I'm just trying to get my kid's bike over to the school and it's too hard to drag it along next to me!

At any rate, we actually managed to get both kids to try riding on their own for the remainder of the trip to the school, and lo and behold, they did it!  In fact, when I suggested they try riding through the woodland path connecting to the school, I learned that they were not the inexperienced novices they appeared to be.

JULIA: But Mama!  It's too bumpy in there!
ME: It's really not.  It's a paved path so it's pretty smooth.
JULIA: No,when I tried riding it the other day, it was too bumpy!

Huh?  The other day?  Oh, so it turns out they took their bikes to the school with their baby-sitter a few days ago, and hadn't bothered to mention that.  So how was it they were acting terrified to try this out with Ethan and I?  Had their sitter just carried their bikes or something?

ME: Madeleine, how did you get your bike to the school the other day when you guys went while I was at work?
MADELEINE: Oh.  I just RIDED it.

Huh.  Okay.  I was totally not buying any further protests from either kid about trying to ride the rest of the way to the school.  And wouldn't you know it, they were both successfully able to ride on their own through the woods, arriving at the school and riding contentedly around the blacktop for awhile:








As we had been exiting the forest path into the school field, I trotted behind Madeleine and announced, "Great riding Madeleine!"

Boy, was she quick to correct me.

MADELEINE: Uh, EMILY.
ME: Oh.  Great riding, Emily.
MADELEINE: (cheerfully) Yeah.  Because...I'm being EMILY in this GAME!

See, that's what mixed me up in the first place.  I hadn't been aware that we were playing a game.  I thought we were just riding bikes to the school.  I'm just way too slow on the uptake here, I guess.

After awhile, the girls got tired of biking and decided to play an elaborate game on the playground.  I lucked out and got to sit on a bench near the play structure while Ethan played a lead role in the whole pretend-play ordeal.  Therefore, I'm not entirely sure what was going on, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and take a guess that it was some sort of Harry Potter theme.  Especially with clues like this to give it away.

MADELEINE: (from behind the bars of their pretend jail) HEELP!  HEEELP!  I'm locked in JAIL!
ME: Julia, Madeleine's in jail!  She needs help!
MADELEINE: Uh, Mama, did you mean HERMIONE?
ME: Hermione, Emily is in jail!  She needs help!
JULIA: (running over to free Madeleine)
MADELEINE: Oh, no!  Peter Pettigrew locked me in jail AGAIN!  HEEEELP!

Boy did I dodge a bullet in not being invited to play in that one. 

After we finished up at the playground, the girls rode around on bikes for awhile, and then we headed home, with both girls biking their own way!  I got a little bit of very wobbly video, as I was attempting to record and walk at the same time, but here are the girls closing in on the home stretch before our house:




Great biking, Hermione and Emily!  I guess you WERE ready after all!