Finding His Freedom

Up until a month ago my thirteen-year-old couldn’t ride a bike. We tried to teach him when he was little, but he was never that interested. We live at the top of the hill so his lessons usually ended with him getting scared as he soared down the hill and landed in the neighbors bushes. I think the bushes scarred him for life; both mentally and physically. He eventually just gave up and down right refused to ride his bike. So we stopped pushing him.

He couldn’t ride a two wheeler, but he still wanted to get around. So for his birthday several years ago we got him a Wrff. The Wrff has three wheels so he didn’t have to balance. But it’s also harder to navigate and heavier than a bicycle so it was difficult for him to use it as a form of transportation to get from point A to point B. It was more of a fun thing to do tricks on then a way to get around.

His older brother has been able to ride a bike for as long as I can remember. He would just hop on his bike and ride over to a friend’s house. He didn’t have to wait for us to give him a ride like our thirteen-year-old did. Sometimes they would ride together and the older one would have to slow down to wait for his brother to catch up. It was really frustrating.

That all changed last month. Last month our thirteen-year-old decided he was going to learn to ride a bike. He walked out to the garage, got on the bike and rode off. Just like that. Nobody had to teach him. He didn’t fall down. He just took off like he’d been riding for years. I guess he was just finally ready.

Now he’s discovered the best part of knowing how to ride a bike. Freedom. Since he learned to ride his bike I haven’t seen him for more than 20 minutes a night. As soon as he gets home from school he rides off to the park or a friend’s house and doesn’t come home until chore time at 8pm. I’m starting to miss him. I wanted him to learn to ride a bike for years and now that he has I’m a little sad. I guess you better be careful what you wish for.