Good Night for a Ride.

Marigold rode her bike (last summer)! Learning was easier than we thought it would be. We didn't plan on it being a challenge this year. So, we took her little purple monkey decal covered bicycle with us to Colorado. She either learned more about gravity in the past year, or has become conscious of onlookers, or both. I don't know what it is, but suffice it to say, the bike didn't make the trip's highlight photos.

This week we took it down to Elmwood Park a couple times. Again, nothing photogenic. Of course, the daddy-daughter double bail right in front of our neighbor friends might have gone viral had it been recorded.

( I happen to be writing this in front of the Colbert Report and am moved by the Subaru commercial they keep showing where the dad is talking to his toddler as she sits in the driver seat and then as he hands her the keys she turns into a 16 year-old. Not so looking forward to that day. )

Regardless, after much ado she got going again, but was awkward having outgrown the 12" frame of the monkey bike, and continued to protest. After much parental deliberation, we decided to push the issue, considering it a major gamble. So, last night we got her sized right into a pink, flowered 20" from the neighborhood Trek store, with plans to pick it up tonight after some adjustments.

The protests continued with enhanced fervor as the thought of riding her new bike became more of a reality tonight. This is not the place for all of the details, but every action was challenged with all sorts of five-year old maneuvers. Check that, the sophistication was beyond her years.

We found an empty parking lot in the neighborhood and I strapped Marley into her stroller for containment as Marigold ran away. I brought her back and plopped her onto the seat with her helmet in place and off we went. This is what I would call "pushing it." I didn't push it far, though, before I was hollering out to hit the brakes. "I like going fast, Dad!"

She spent the next half hour riding circles around Marley and me, singing Frosty the Snowman, the Alphabet Song and anything else she could come up with. The protesting came back when she asked to go to the bathroom and found out it would be bedtime with no more biking for the night if we were to go home.

Should we push her? When? What for? How? Will it backfire, ruin our relationship? Her trust? Her self confidence? We've read the books from both extremes. We talk to other parents. We google. Most importantly, we know our Marigold, we love her, and sometimes we just know what to do. It happened to be 99 degrees farenheit, with a heat index of 106, at 6:30, but it was a good night for a ride.