The Bike

Zinash has wanted a bike pretty much since we brought her home from Ethiopia. Thanks to my sweet parents, we were able to give her a scooter, but a bike just wasn't in the budget. We said, "You can put it on your wish list for Christmas," so she did( along with a dollhouse and half the toy section at Target). She made it clear, though, that the bike was at the tip top of the list.

We spent Christmas in Illinois with Chuck's family and then spent some time after Christmas with my family in Nebraska so we didn't give the girls their "big gifts" from us until we got home on January 4th. Chuck created a little scavenger hunt for Zinash that led her to her helmet (which she already was using with her scooter) and a white envelope inside. She opened up the envelope and it had a picture of a bike. She looked at us kind of confused at first but once we explained that she could help pick out a bike for herself she screamed with joy and ran around the room saying, "This is the best Christmas EVER!" It took a few weeks for she and Chuck to find just the right bike but in the end she got her wish for a purple bike.

Of course, the next challenge was figuring out how to ride it. I'm so thankful that Chuck took the lead on that one because he did a fabulous job of teaching her.

The Purple Bike

One of the first things he said to her was, "You're going to fall today because everyone who is learning how to ride a bike falls, but it will be okay and you will be alright." She was not thrilled with that idea and almost tried to back out of the whole deal, but Chuck convinced her that it would be worth it. They started on the grass so that the falls would be cushioned. We saw one of her friends at the park and her friend said, "Don't you know it's easier to ride on the sidewalk?" True, but the grass is a much friendlier landing pad.

Phase One of Operation Bike Riding

After Zinash had developed some confidence and ability to balance, they moved over to the sidewalk. She did remarkably well for her first day of bike riding and only had one major spill where she couldn't figure out how to stop and crashed into a small tree and a bush. She only got a couple small scratches but it scared her and she wanted to stop after that. Chuck wisely told her that she needed to ride at least once more before we left the park. I'm so glad that he did because I'm not sure we would've gotten her back on the bike another day if she hadn't had a couple successful rides post-crash.

Phase Two of Operation Bike Riding

As I watched the second video later I realized that Mihret said to me, "My throat feels like it's going to throw up." My response? "Oh dear....Look at her go!" Think I was distracted? Oops...probably not my "Mom of the Year" moment. In the end, though, Mihret was fine (in spite of my response) and Zinash learned to ride a bike thanks to great effort on her part and wise instruction from her Dad.