16 Wheels. 8 Pedals. 4 Helmets.{And A Whole Lot of Patience}
Over the weekend something slightly ordinary yet at the same time extraordinary occurred, our foursome learned to pedal their bikes (with training wheels)! Hallelujah!
Until Saturday, Henry was the lone brother who could pedal without constant help. The others were frustrated, uncoordinated, and were demanding our undivided attention – which is difficult to do when we are outnumbered 2:4. The “ole quadruplet pregnancy back” wasn’t loving all the crouching and bending over either, which was to their disadvantage.
Perhaps we should have taken them out 1 on 1, and gave them the individual attention they needed to accomplish this skill much quicker, but sometimes it’s just not practical. There might be one sunny day between 12 cloudy cold days. I guess we didn’t anticipate how much coordination and gross motor planning goes in to teaching four individuals how to pedal a bike.
Nor did we prepare for it to be a struggle of PATIENCE with the shouts for help, the cries of frustration, the wheels stuck in the grass, a bike that needs turned around, ALL AT THE SAME TIME! (Somebody pass the aspirin!)
But you know what? The struggle made the celebration all the better. It was so rewarding to see them unable to keep their excitement in, bragging on the phone to grandparents about their accomplishments, giggling as they road around the block together for the second time, and witnessing a milestone.
Watching them coast down the block ahead of me, brought me back to the uncertain days of not knowing how many if any of my babies would survive. Would they ever walk? Would they be able to ride in a “normal” van? Would I have to care for them lifelong? Will they be able to learn and develop?
There are many around us who face these same fears and live out some of our greatest worries. Our hearts go out to them, as we struggle to understand the “whys” and the “why nots” that we cannot comprehend in this lifetime.
And we choose to count our blessings for a somewhat ordinary accomplishment with 16 wheels, 8 pedals, and 4 helmets with 4 boys, that seems much more extraordinary when we see where the path has led us.
Way to go, boys! What an amazing sense of accomplishment that is!!
Thanks so much, Ashley. What a gracious and merciful God we serve!
They are ahead of my 6 year old. He still hasn’t gotten the pedal thing down at all. He loves his scooter though!
Yippee! That is so exciting. We are getting our kids bikes for their third Birthday next month although now I am wondering if that is a good idea. I never really thought about how much work from us it would require. :o) I try not to think about the work involved or we would probably never do anything!!!! ;O)
They got theirs for their 3rd birthday as well, but it just now seemed to “click”. I’m guessing the Indiana weather didn’t do us much good in developing our bike skills also! How are you all getting along? We think of you often!
Definitely understand about not thinking about the work involved before trying something – innocence is BLISS!
Nice job boys!! I feel like a proud mamma and I’ve never even seen them in real life!!
We started my son on a tricycle (with a handle for the parents) but dummy us still had to reach down to help him pedal! Sadly when he got his bike with training wheels (4th birthday) it was starting all over, at first- thankfully we can go for a cruise now!!
Nice job Brad & Jen too because I know how challenging this bike riding thing is with 1, prayers your way for doing it all x4!!
I love how you see those ordinary moments as the true blessings they are. It must be so rewarding to see your boys thrive and grow into little men.
That’s Awesome!!! My twins got bikes last year and while my daughter figured out pedaling pretty quickly..her brother had a really hard time with it. He’s had some motor delays and they really came into play then! Thankfully by the end of the summer he had figured it out! yeah!! He was soooo excited!
Congrats to your boys (& you two for surviving another big milestone!!!)
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April is Autism Awareness Month. I’m dedicating my blog all month to Autism.
Congrats to the boys! My son is the same age as your boys and he just learned to pedal his bike by himself this past weekend too!!!! I’m glad to know that he wasn’t the only 4 year old who couldn’t pedal his bike without a TON of help from us! Last night we celebrated with a ride around the neighborhood and it was incredible! Celebrating with you….(and, I live in Indiana as well so I definitely think we can blame the weather)!
That has got to be the cutest thing in the whole world, watching four little guys riding their bikes down the sidewalk! Love it.
I wanted to let you know a little trick to get the boys riding without the training wheels. You take the pedals off the bike and lower the seat to its lowest setting.
Let them ride the bike not pedaling. Let them find there balance with their feet.
Sometimes all it takes is 15 minutes sometime a couple of days. This trick has worked on numerous children we know even our own. Hope it works for you.
they are so so cuuuute! 🙂