My Heart is in My Throat!

I can't look. I cover my eyes. I have to go in. It's just too stressful for me.

They've taken the training wheels off her two-wheeler. I know this is a rite of passage children go through. Most survive. I know all that. But still, I can't look.

She's four-and-a-half. From inside the house, I can hear her wailing. She must have wiped out. I did notice that she had her helmet on. Also, knee pads and elbow pads. There wasn't too much left exposed that could have been damaged too badly.

Maybe it's not so much the scrapes and bruises that she'll suffer during the next few days as she perfects her technique of balancing and steering (I saw her concentrating on the balancing part, and then she just let go of the handlebars! If her dad hadn't been holding on . . .).

Maybe it's her growing up so fast right before my eyes. Two years ago, it was the trike. Last year, the hand-me-down two-wheeler with training wheels. And now, this. By the end of the summer,she'll be off to the park and around the block, keeping up with her brothers or maybe setting the pace for them!

One minute they're little. We run along beside them, shouting encouragement and giving them confidence. The next minute, they're gone. Hopefully, those shouts are still ringing in their ears!