no more training wheels

Yes, it is the end of summer, and Yes, I had been meaning to get to this quite a bit sooner, but we got out in the evening and finally made a go without training wheels.

There are very few moments in life when I feel breathless. Where I just stand with my mouth open watching. Stunned. Amazed. But not in a fearful way; unfortunately had a few of those. I've had two this summer.

The first was in July. I was standing in a stream in a field in Provence, France in a photo workshop waiting for wild horses to run by. They did. It was breath taking. Just to see fluidity in motion, muscle in action and a scene/situation I had never previously encountered. Photos ensued.

The Second, just the other night, watching my eldest leave my arms and pedal, pedal, pedal. It was motion, a bit herky-jerky motion, but it was beautiful. He didn't stop, he kept going until I had to breath again. Even the Little Man sat in a stunned silence to see the Big Boy go. He was prepped. We had watched a Frankly episode where he took off his training wheels. He was prepared. He was wearing knee pads, elbow pads and his helmet. He was in the zone. On the walk out we discussed that he already knew how to ride a bike. He's been riding with training wheels for a year. The only thing that would be new was starting and stopping. Then in an instant it happened, he became a rider. When I pushed him off, he pedaled. Really it was magical.

The bike is a bit too big for him so he needs help starting, but he's already learned to slow the bike, kick his leg over and jump off. Amazing. It might be a bite crude to compare my child to a group of wild animals, but there is a similarity of entering the unknown, lacking expectations, and being amazed by the result before your eyes. But the difference, I'm so proud of him. He is proud of himself, but I too am proud of him. I know he was a bit scared. He wanted the pads. But he took the challenge and met it. Just the coolest thing in the world to watch.