We have been trying to encourage Meike to try riding her bicycle without training wheels for over a year now.  She pretty much did it last year but she was still too afraid to try.  Our weather this weekend was gorgeous and we once again tried to encourage her to try again.  I really hate forcing our children to try something but if we let this child to wait until she wasn't scared, she would never do anything.  Through tears she finally tried and guess what?  She can ride a two-wheeler!!!!!!  She cracks me up with her comments sometimes. I wish I could remember word for word she said because the way she words things would make you laugh.  (Yes, she does get it from me.)  After she realized she could ride it, she kept saying it wasn't that scary at all.  It was so easy and she loved it.

Learning to ride her bike and facing her fears played right in to the book we are rowing for fiar this week called Albert by Donna Jo Napali.  Everyday Albert sticks his hand out the window to check the weather to see if it would be a perfect day to take a walk and every day he comes up with an excuse why he can't.  One day he stuck out his hand a  couple of cardinals begin building a nest in his hand.  He is unable to move his hand that is holding the nest with four eggs.  He is then forced to face his fears.  This story has more meaning to Meike now than it would have when we had rowed it last month like I had planned.  I believe I put this story off a month ago so that she would understand fear from a completely new perspective.  Perhaps, from now on, she will work through her fears that could rob her of her joy, the joy of riding a two-wheeler for instance.