Creative Parenting

Some of my greatest Mommy accomplishments have come when I used creative solutions to difficult problems.

One specific incident that comes to mind. It was a beautiful Colorado summer day. We owned a townhouse and the complex was full of families with young children. Our parking lot was not a through-way formed a circle. It was the perfect track for young bicycle riders and the like. 

My oldest was outside riding with about 15 other kids. The fun soon turned to tears when he got into a fight with an older neighbor boy. He wanted to ride the kid's bicycle but it was obviously too big for him to handle, and it didn't have training wheels. He threw a fit. He was so upset. I was worried about his safety on such a big bike that he obviously couldn't control. I got an idea! What if I took the training wheels off his bike? I did just that. I showed him what I was doing and he seemed to like the idea. He was anxious for me to finish so he could try it out. 

When the training wheels were off, I took him to the smaller parking lot in the back away from where the other kids were. It wasn't exactly how it happens on television. He pretty much told me "Leave me alone, I've got this." and took off. We practiced getting started on his own a couple of times and he was good to go. He rode around the building and when the other kids saw him they cheered and congratulated him. He was three years old and riding a bicycle with no training wheels.

It was a magical day. Another little girl (still older than he was) learned to ride with no training wheels that day too. Who would have thought to take the training wheels off a three year old's bike to stop a melt down? I wish moments like that came more often. Where is my brilliant idea on how to get him to take all the dirty dishes out of his room, do his homework, or choose to play outside instead of video games? It's like I'm always guessing at what he wants, and on rare days like that day with the bicycle I actually get it right. Now that he's a teenager, I'm pretty much always wrong. But I still have my "three year old son riding a bicycle without training wheels" moment.