Determination

It has been an exciting week here for us that started the weekend before last when we went to visit some friends in Port Macquarie. They have 2 boys aged 6 and 4 years and we have our 2 aged 4 1/2 and 18months. The only thing they asked us to make sure we packed was bikes. As we have no bike rack on the car we chose to pack the scooter instead. The first morning we were there we headed to the local cafe (which is also connected to the local cycling shop) and our friends decided to purchase a new bike for their 4 year old. As you can imagine this was very exciting and he wanted to try it out asap. So that afternoon we headed down to the local basketball courts where there was plenty of room for riding bikes, scooters and skateboards. He had no problem transferring from his smaller bike to the new one and no need for training wheels (which he had previously managed without also).

After watching this and taking it all in and hooting around on his scooter Jake silently processed the 4 year old and no training wheels.

When we arrived home he headed straight for his bike and asked for the training wheels to be removed. He spent the next few days determined to ride without them. This is not an easy feat at our house. We have no driveway, no garage, and the street is on a hill. So there is no adequate flat space to practise. Nevertheless determination set in and out on our back deck Jake persisted. At first with help, and then when I had to cook dinner he chose not to wait, instead he used the railing and the wall, mastered getting started and wobbled his way down the deck on his own.

Watching him master something he was so determined to achieve and seeing the smile and pride he had in himself made me grin from ear to ear. Below are some of the photos I took and we then headed down to the park (where we have pretty much lived ever since) to keep practising in a much bigger space :)

It is amazing what children achieve when they watch other children. I could have explained the no training wheels over and over, but watching another child makes all the difference.

As I was thinking about my post for this week. I thought back to a layout I did when Jake was 8 months old, also about determination. The motivation for him was different, but the effort and persistence was the same. Nothing has changed and I hope it never does. I love this quality in Jake and hope I scrap a lot more pages titled the same over the years. I will turn the pictures above into a page about determination.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week.