Balance at last

I started typing "We interrupt these vacation memories with important news." But then I remembered I've barely written about our vacation. So let's just move forward with the news.

AJ has achieved something major. 

Something I've been waiting to write about for two years.

He's reached a milestone. 

He's at long last...

...learned to ride a bike.

Don't get me wrong. As someone who didn't learn to ride a bike until I was nine, I'm absolutely not making fun of my son for not getting the hang of it until age eight.

What he's lacked, besides an ability to balance, is motivation. He has no friends in the immediate neighborhood inviting him to go bike riding, so he doesn't feel the need.

For me, it was my mom's threat to ride around the block each day with me on the back of my banana seat bike that convinced me to learn. That day.

At the beginning of summer, I gave AJ an ultimatum that I thought was fool proof. No more Trash Packs (ugly little rubber figures that he and his friends collect) until he learned to ride a bike. But my timing was off. During summer vacation, since he wasn't seeing his friends at school each day, his interest in these stupid trading toys faded.

I next tried warning him that Sydney was on track to learn to ride a bike before him. And if that happened, he would never hear the end of it. And I could pretty much guarantee that his future girlfriends, wife and children would all hear the story as well. But Sydney still isn't particularly interested in learning, so that didn't work either.

The break through actually came while on vacation. Knowing that his cousins would have their scooters, we brought AJ's along. He's never had much interest in it, but the desire to keep up with his cousins suddenly had him focused on mastering it. And to be good, he had to learn to balance on it. We convinced him it would be just as easy to learn to balance on a bike. And what do you know.

Ever the cautious kid, he's now really good at riding in circles around the cul-de-sac. He's not interested in going any farther because that would require a ride down the hill on our street to get home. And hills (speed) scare him.

Yes, that's a victory pose.

Jeff gets credit for teaching him. AJ gave him a hug and kiss to celebrate.

And then asked if he could go and get some Trash Packs.