Look Mom: No Training Wheels!

Here is Mia's latest masterpiece, a chalk drawing from last night, entitled, "Turtle Riding a Bicycle." I LOVE this drawing because it is cute and very original. Plus, I am proud because when she announced, "I'm going to draw a turtle riding a bike," she simply did it. She did it without complaining that she didn't know how to or asking me to help her in any way. (I prefer not to help her with her drawings because I want her to learn to solve her own problems.) Note that the safety-conscious reptile is, of course, wearing his helmet. This is one of those examples of art imitating life.

Starting kindergarten has definitely improved Mia's sense of independence. In fact, she asked us to take the training wheels of her bike this past Friday evening. She got pretty good at braking (and falling without doing too much damage) before bedtime. By Sunday evening, she had figured out how to slow down, turn around, and then keep going so that she was able to race up and down the driveway repeatedly, huge grin plastered to her face. She had even requested that we get out her knee and elbow pads, which she normally passes on, so I saw that as a sign of using common sense to minimize injuries. The helmet is NOT optional, and she knows this. That's why the turtle drawing really made me smile.

{Mia first practiced riding her old bike sans training wheels on Friday night.}

{By Sunday night, she was feeling much more confident on her "big girl" bike! In fact, she was going so fast, that most of my pictures were too blurry to use.}