And there he goes

Today Jimmy learned to ride a bike. You can imagine the conflicting emotions of pride, fear, relief, resigned certainty that a trip to the ER was looming.....

I must say, this was something he tried 2 summers ago while we lived in Fishers, Indiana, but it didn't "click" at the time. Last summer, he showed no interest at all; part of the blame falls on the hilly street that we are situated upon, which is quite different than the learner-friendly flatness of the Midwestern suburb.

Two things seem to have aided in today's epiphanal event. One, we went to the nearby County College of Morris with a nice, flat parking lot the size of a few football fields (why are football fields the chosen benchmark for outdoor sizing?); and two, the balance acquired from his ice skating lessons carried over nicely. It was amazing to watch. After all, how do you teach one to ride a bike? It's like tying shoes - not something for the spoken word. Couple that with my legendary impatience and it's a recipe for a stressful "learning" experience for the boy.

But today, he got on the bike, started pedaling, and was off. Like a rocket. It would make the casual observer who didn't know any better think that he had been practicing at a secret location for the past 24 months.

Either way, it was one of those "moments" for this father. One of those times that you try to put into words but can't - the simplest, most cliched way to do so is to say simply, "my little boy is growing up."

That and I need to make sure my health insurance is paid up.