… and makes you gasp each time it looks like he’s going to fall, only to hear him reassure you, “Mommy, I’m fine!”
Tears threaten to blur your vision as he pedals further and further away from you…a cruel metaphor for what the future holds, as a brief vision of him exchanging wedding vows someday with the woman he loves invades your thoughts.
Instinctively, you want to run after him and tell him to slow down before he gets hurt…
But then, just as quickly, he heads back towards you, with a huge smile on his face….much to your relief.
“Mommy, I did it..I did it all by myself! Aren’t you so happy? I’m riding my bike like a big boy!” he yells, his voice overflowing with excitement and pride.
This milestone, like many others, forces you to tell a little white lie.
Painfully smiling through your tears, you respond, “Yes, I’m so happy for you! You’re really growing up, aren’t you?”
Suddenly, your thoughts take you back to a time not so long ago when it was YOU having to console HIM when he insisted on staying little forever.
You continue watching him pedal faster and faster, the wind whipping past him as he laughs out loud, feeling empowered by this new freedom and sense of accomplishment…
Just then a warm breeze dances by and begins to dry the tears which have long since rolled down your cheeks, leaving trails of salty sweetness as evidence of your anguish.
And you’re reminded of a quote you once heard…
Don’t count the years….count the memories (author unknown)
48 comments:
I love your blog, the Disneyworld vacation had me chuckling with recognition and this one too. Four children OMG, busy lady !!
PS thanks for your comments on my article on Healthy Moms - glad you enjoyed it.Susan x
www.lifestyletherapy.net
Sigh...the days drag but the years fly by!
I LOVE that face-painting!
i wish for the kids to never grow older BUT i wish the same for me too. :p
good on you to capture all these special moments. :)
~ash's mum
He's so cute! I like his lizard face too! Congratulations on your best mommy blog nomination--I'm off now to vote for you!
Awww...congrats! I love that quote...need to write that down somewhere. That face painting is great...if you did that, I'm totally jealous of your awesomeness.
You just took me down memory lane...mine wasnt as sweet...the first day my eldest rode without the training wheels..she collided with a slow moving car and she fell off bike and the car tire nipped her pinky toe...it was the craziest thing and she was fine but that is our memory...Congrats on you milestone...it is a big one...
Woo-hoo!! Way to go!
That is some awesome face-painting there. :) I wish J would let me do that on him. That would be so cool.
How cool! I bet he just LOVES going fast!
Lily just learned how to ride her two-wheeler, too, and sometimes those swerves she takes make my heart leap up in my chest! I'm praying she doesn't run into a tree, because you know the tree's not going to get out of the way!
That's so wonderful! Very touching and I also love the painting on the face.
That is some awesome face pant.
And I have to get Hayden on his bike. :)
It's just too fast. Everyone told me that when I was pregnant, but I had to live it to get it.
That last picture is CRACKING me up!
Some milestones I have just given up on. Ever since the infamous bicycle crash of 1998, sons #3 and #4 simply won't.
I would be lying too. When yours lost their first tooth last year (I think it was Bella) I was thinking I sort of get it but didn't think it was that big of a deal. But as mine are talking more and more about it and I know it's going to be any month now, I am going to be so sad! They don't look the same once those big teeth come in! :( Forever changed! Yes, the milestones are fun but definitely sad too.
But that is great he's riding the bike. We need to get back at it. Ours just want to stop every 5 feet and pick flowers. Bike riding takes an eternity. Mike tried to teach them last fall. He only tried twice and decided not to fool with it. I guess it's time to try again.
BTW, cool alligator! Kaitlyn would think that was awesome! I'll have to show it to her when she gets home!
*sigh*
Yes. I know exactly how you feel. Just wait until your eldest starts driving. You're going to be wishing for training wheels all over again.
I already know I'll blubber like a baby! They grow up way too fast :)
I remember my mom always saying that once the training wheels were off, we wern't her babies anymore! :) Voted for you!
ps- love the dinosaur face painting!
Awww I'd be blubbering like a baby. Those moments are ones that you will remember forever.
WTG Big Boy!!
Aww, what a sweet moment! Abby just got her first bike with training wheels this weekend. She loves it! I can't believe it took us so long to buy her a replacement for the tricycle!
I had tears in my eyes just reading this post! I wrote a similar post (in letter form) to Ryan last week. He jumped off the diving board for the first time at his swim lessons. Wish I would have had my camera there to document his "big boy" moment!
Way to go Cole!!
ps- you got my vote mama!
Why can't they just stay little??? When Sierra rode without training wheels for the first time it was definitely bittersweet. The years pass way too quickly.
Be glad it's the bike and not the car. My baby turns 14 at the end of this week.
Driving is not too far away. Ahhh!
Aw! They do grow up so fast don't they? It's hard to realize they're just speeding up instead of slowing down!
P.S - that face painting is too cute! Love it
I'm still trying to get my 2 year old to figure out how to pedal on the tri-cyle :)
That face painting is awesome!
Awww! My parents never took my training wheels off. Hence I still fall off my bike at 32 years old!
Oh so sweet. I know what you mean... my daughter just learned to ride without training wheels, after much fear and worry.
This spring has brought many momentous occasions in my family - my last baby's graduation from preschool and my youngest son's 5th grade graduation - that have me cheering for them and hiding my silent tears.
I love the face painting! What a great idea!
Oh that moment is so, so bittersweet! I bet he is so very proud of himself! I always have the hardest time with the milestones and more tears then I can count have rolled because of them!
sniff sniff i sure know the feeling. Though I am afraid to wish that my four stay young forever. Because that would mean they may die o4r become vampires which is one and the same! LOL
Congrats on being nominated. going to vote now!
Awwww! What a sweet post. Sometimes you do wish that you could just stop it all and keep them little and protect them from everything and then you realize "by golly, I am going to die from exhaustion if they do not grow up soon." :) Take it from me, it is all bittersweet every step of the way. It really does all go so fast. Just enjoy every single moment! Love the last two pictures. So cute!
Oh the years do fly by.... I have 2 driving cars now! Very scary!! I love that face painting!
Best. Face paint job. Ever!!!! SOOOOO CUTE! I particularly like the mouth open, it gave me a good giggle!
I can't believe those pictures are of his first time ever without training wheels! He's such a natural... future Lance Armstrong, eh? Minus the bought with cancer and cheating on his wife, obviously.
Way to go, Cole!
wait, that is an alligator right? if it's a dinosaur, i take back what i said ;)
you do know my thing about dinos, right?
Is amazing how they changed. Of course we always are going to say that they are our kids (well, little kids,ha) no matter the age.
Sniff!!!
What an awesome post!! And I love the face painting!! Too cute!
^5 to the little guy and *big hugs* to mommy
Way to go, Cole!! :)
The adventures of bike riding...LOVE IT!
I adore the face painting!
Learning how to ride without training wheels is a huge deal. He will probably remember that day for the rest of his life! I remember the day my dad took the training wheels off my bike.
Love that face painting, too cool!
BTW, going to vote for you now, what an awesome nomination!
Awww!!! Big boy now!!
I just love that face painting!
I love the face painting!!!
what a cutie. Time does fly. I'm sure ours will be doing this before long...and I'll wonder where the years went....
P.S. there's an award for you at my site.
You're making me cry!!!! Such a sweet sweet post!
I remember both my kids learning how to ride two wheelers and my heart was in my throat the whole time.
I wish I could have my face painted that way!
Helene, that was so sweet! You are right beyond words. It is something else to see them grow before our eyes.
We are getting ready to go to Disneyland in September so I will have to use some of your survival tips,lol.
No training wheels, that is so exciting. They grow up so fast.
It will be my pleasure to vote for you.
I love the face painting - too cute! Way to go, Cole!
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