Training Wheels

Yesterday I took Maya's training wheels off her bike and spent some time in my parents' backyard with Maya on the bike. It was cold out, but Maya was really so upbeat about wanting to ride her bike without the training wheels. She fell off her bike...over and over again...but she kept getting back up and wanting to try again and again. Once she fell on the handlebars and it hurt her shin so we stopped for a bit and went back inside the house. But about 20 minutes later I asked if she wanted to try again and she said "Yes!" So out back we went. She couldn't really ride more than 5 feet without falling off her bike. But she wanted to try in my parents' side yard which is longer and has a slight hill. So we did...and after a few attempts she actually was able to ride for about 20 feet without falling down. For the very first time of attempting to ride a bike without training wheels, I was quite impressed. Impressed not with just 20 feet, but Maya's willingness to keep trying over and over again. This really wasn't something she had been asking to do....I just decided to give it a try yesterday but she went right along with it.