Over the past few days and weeks we have had an enormous amount of time with our family…some times good and others…well we don’t always need to talk about everything.
Lately I’ve been working with my youngest one on her balance and helping her learn how to do more things around that. She has recently added a scooter to the mix of her daily modes of transportation. As she zips around the house on the newest of her obsessions I noticed that she has started to get a bit faster on it as she whirls around the dining room table. She takes a pretty good tumble into the couch as the wheel catches on the area rug. The wife and I ask if she’s okay and a somber “yeah” comes from the pile of arms, legs and purple scooter. At that point we set some new rules that we can’t continue to do this in the house. She’s just getting too fast for this to be an inside toy any longer.
We move outside where we have a bit more room. Now she brings out my Sector 9 longboard and asks if she can ride it. I tell her of course you can and she begins to set up the same way she always does at the top of the driveway. But this time is different. I can see a different look in her eye. She walks it down to the road and asks me if I can help her stand on it. We chat briefly how walking up to this is the same as her scooter, just with no handle. She walks right up to it and starts to push off and as she is squatted down and holding on with both hands…she stands up and holds her arms out to balance herself…my 5 yr old daughter is rising my longboard! I can’t believe it…she takes right to it and starts kicking off more and starts to lean into it more to make it turn under her weight. I can see she’s hooked.
My 5 yr old daughter is rising my longboard!
You never know when they will amaze you.
We head back out the next day around sunset to enjoy the breeze that has kicked up with the next little bit of rain coming in and she grabs the skateboard again instead of her bike or scooter. And now she starts edging her way up the driveway until she’s taking off at the top of the driveway and controlling this longboard the entire way down…And even dismounts correctly into the grass at the end.
Stop and enjoy those little moments
While sitting there enjoying the afternoon’s wacky weather and watching the pure joy of her gaining more confidence in something that she has just learned is truly awesome and inspiring. This one is brave…and there is no stopping her.
