- Growing Up Fast

Growing Up Fast

Written by Mike Noel

Sunday, 05 March 2006

Kids grow up fast. Ask any parent. One of the major milestones is learning to ride a bike -- without training wheels. This was acheived by my twins a couple months ago. As you may recall, it's a scary thing letting go of the training wheels. When I first took them off the bikes neither of the kids were willing to ride their bikes. They both took a sudden interest in the skateboards and scooters we had hanging around the garage.

But the love and lure of the bikes was too much to resist. Soon I was out there holding on to the back of the bike while the kids were pedaling away. White knuckled grasps on the handlebars were always accompanied by earnest pleading and begging that I promise not to let go of the bike. Of course I never did let go. Well, not without telling them I was going to.

Fear is debilitating. As adults the fears never go away. Sure, we aren't afraid of falling off a bike, but we're still afraid of lots of other things. When the "check engine" light blips to life on your dashboard doesn't a sudden surge of fear in the form of massive car repair bills flood your brain? But we have to get past it or we can't live.

The first crash is the most traumatic. It's where the child's worst fears come true. They really did fall over just like they thought they would. But at the same time it's where their worst fears are realized as not being as bad as they thought they would be. Hey, what do you know, I didn't die! This first crash is also the first major turning point for the fear defeating trainee. Will he (or she, yes, I have daughters too) get back on the bike or will he be beaten back by fear?

It is a lot more fun to ride a bike without the restrictions of training wheels but before you can ever get there you need to face your fears. You even need to "crash" every once in a while just to see that you did survive. Apparently I'm a slow learner because I'm still having to learn this lesson almost daily.