Last night we got Gracie a bicycle -- a red 16 inch bicycle with Dora the Explorer on it, complete with training wheels and a small purple Backpack fastened in the middle of the handlebars with Velcro. I had been wanting to get Gracie a bicycle for a while, but now that she has one, I am beginning to realize that I wanted her to have it more than she really wanted it. When we took her to the park this afternoon to practice riding her bicycle, she spent a few minutes pedaling but then wanted to go swing. I guess I am hurrying her, getting her a bicycle before she is really ready for it ... but I do hope that she comes to enjoy it with time.
Even though I spend all day every day with Drew and Gracie, they can still surprise me sometimes. Yesterday we took Drew and Gracie to a carnival that was hosted by a church in town. I rode with Gracie on the carousel and my husband took her on the ferris wheel. I was pretty sure she would love the carousel (she did), but I thought she might be scared on the ferris wheel. (I don't like heights so I would have been scared!) To my surprise and delight, her face was beaming the entire time she was on the ferris wheel, and when she got off she exclaimed that she went "way up high" and that she wanted to do it again.
It is delightful to get to know these unique little people, my children, as they grow. I am glad that Gracie is trying new things. I sometimes find it challenging to strike a balance between providing opportunities for them to learn and to experience new things, and pushing them into new things that they are not interested in or ready for. And sometimes I project what *I* am ready for them to do or what *I* want onto them.
I just hope that Gracie will learn to love riding her new bicycle eventually!
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