Exciting news!

Laura can finally join the ranks of bicycle riders free from the crippling influence of training wheels. It's true, she is on the older end. Nine-years-old and just mastered the skill this week. I admit, it was starting to get embarrassing summer after summer, as the other five-year-olds of the neighborhood went zooming past Laura training wheel-free (while she was their senior at the ripe age of 6, then 7, then 8, and then...oh no...), but to Laura's defense, we DID move into a cul-de-sac on a very steep hill. And Laura is overly cautious and anti-risk (which has its advantages in this crazy world, so we have, on occasion encouraged this tendency).

But finally we had to bite the bullet. I was not going to sit outside with the other mothers of the circle and endure this one more summer. Steve and I sat Laura down and had a conversation that went something like this:

MOM: Laura, you are not allowed to read any more books until you learn how to ride without training wheels.

LAURA (gaping): Seriously?

DAD: Yes. You can do it. It's not as hard as you think.

LAURA (sniffing): Yes, it is. I might get hurt.

MOM: You'll be fine. Give it a chance and you'll learn in a single day. Promise. And while you're working at it, could you not tell anyone who you are or that you know us at all? Thanks.

LAURA: (Scowls.)

But she is a good little work horse and a fast learner (when she actually tries, which she had not before done the previous summers). It took only two short days for her to feel comfortable enough to join the other five-year-old speed demons as they raced down the street.

Hallelujah! Mission accomplished.