This weekend was the Official Opening of The Beaches and it was also the first time we ever had a family bike ride out of our neighborhood and through busy traffic and on bike lanes next to cars and other bike riders and pedestrians. I was nervous, wondering if Dallas was really ready, and could stay focused (and safe) enough to handle a ride like this. Daddy insisted we had to try. He was a bit more confident than I was.
Our son did a wonderful job! He paid attention to directions and followed instructions like a pro. We were very proud of him and he biked long distance like he's been doing it his entre life. When waiting to cross a busy street with the group of us adult bikers, I quietly asked him if he was scared. He said "I am a little bit, but I'll get over it". That's my boy...
We rode about 4 1/2 miles, then we picked our spot to stop and watch the parade.
Another first for Dallas...the Parade! He'd never seen a parade before. I didn't even realize this, until he told me how excited he was. Even during our trip to Disney World, we missed the Maine Street parade. How many kids, nearly 7 years old, have never had the joy of watching a single parade?
So two firsts in one day for Dallas, and both first in our family! He really enjoyed it -
especially the candy and bead- throwing part!
He used to be really frightened of clowns. This was another first for him as well, when one of the parade clowns came over to him for a photo, TOUCHED him, and Dallas didn't run off screaming...
After the parade, everyone in our group decided to go get some cold drinks at an Oyster bar on the oceanfront. Dallas enjoyed that as well, but got a bit overstimulated with the crowd and noise and videogames, producing a mini meltdown in public. We've had those before too many times to count, so no big deal. The only worry was that we were 5 miles from home, on bikes, so if it got bad, we'd have a small problem..
Not to worry, he pulled out of it like a champ! He's becoming more and more able to do these "really big deal things" and our family is feeling more and more "normal" to all of us. We are incredibly proud of our son, and he's feeling pretty proud of himself.
I hope we continue to make many more fun memories as a family, share many more "firsts", many more 9 mile bike rides, and Dallas continues to travel over and beyond many more milestones with us in his life.
Oh, and this morning, he asked, "can we go do that again today?" ;-)
5 comments:
Wonderful!!! Now I'm wondering if J has ever seen a parade. Never with me I know for a fact but I'll have to find out...
You will! You know, a simple small town parade is one of those things we take for granted and don't think much about until it hits you that there is so much simple joy our children may never have experienced, and way too much heartache that they did.
I had the biggest smile on my face when I was reading this post!
Aww... I had a big smile writing it. :-)
What a great achievement! I came across your blog as I was writing a post for mine, which is written for teachers (and parents) to help them more fully understand the needs of children who may be included in their classrooms. I use it for my undergrad teachers (I work at an Australian university) Would love to have your input as it is always great for teachers to hear a parent's perspective.
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