Jaimie's Cycling Journey

Jaimie's buddies Ezra, Rain and Cherrlyn have all learnt to cycle. And they all highly recommend Uncle Edmund for cycling lessons. Initially Clement and I thought that cycling need not be taught in lessons. We would just acquire the skill after some practice and falling a few times. However, we still decided to "copy" the rest so that the kids can have a cycling outing soon.
That's Jaimie's performance during the first lesson. She was gigglinig all the way and enjoyed herself trememdously for the hour. After the lesson, she could not stop telling me how much fun she had and how much she looked forward to the next lesson.
That's Jaimie's second cycling lesson. Her giggling was not heard. She looked very tense, could not balance well and worst of all, she was not paddling. And her not paddling caused the falls. It was a vicious cycle. She was fighting back her tears half way through the lesson. I had to give her a lot of encouragement and hugs. It was quite a setback for her and I was quite afraid that she might give up. I told her that birds need to flap their wings so that they may fly. If they do not flap hard, they would fall from the sky. That was the same for cycling-- if she didn't paddle, she would fall. She seemed to understand the analogy and started to paddle a little more. Honestly, when I found out that the other 3 children managed to balance and cycle after one lesson, I could not help feeling a little anxious. But I was very fast to remind myself that all children learn at a different speed and it's no problem at all. That's Jaimie's third cycling lesson. On our way to the lesson, Jaimie told me that she would remember to paddle paddle paddle, and her legs are going to look like "tornado" (she watched too much cartoons~~) as she paddles. She was still tensed and not giggling. In fact, she was very quiet and focued. I rarely see her in such intense concentration. She only managed to cycle on her own for about 12 seconds until she crashed into the plants or the furnitures, and a few times, into ME! But she was brave enough to pick herself up, no tears, and continued to try. I couldn't tell you how proud I am as a mother. It's not because she is able to cycle now but it's because of her ability to encourage herself and does not give up easily. She still has one last lesson with Uncle Edmund some time this week. I believe Jaimie has learnt a lot, besides cycling. And as I sat down there and watch her, I had reminded myself to always respect my child's learning pace, and to allow her to fall down, allow her to learn to pick herself up, and always give her my support and encouragement in whatever things she does.