Maverick introduced Bidi to her long board two days ago and he is quite taken with it. I wasn't around when she first took him out and she tells me that it was with much trepidation that he got on it. She, of course, gave the requisite clinic on how to get on, pedal, lean back and front, and how to bail. But he was clearly nervous as he first mounted the board, beseeching her not to let go as she held the board's back wheel fast between her feet.
He trusted her enough to finally ask to be released. So off he went, at an ant's pace initially. With her infinite patience he is now able to carve and make little zigzag motions as he traverses the street in front of the house. She, meanwhile, still runs alongside him for moral support.
On my way out to a dinner tonight, I chanced upon them both right outside the gate--at it again, long board in tow. I noticed that the street isn't properly illuminated and that there is a blind corner up ahead. I immediately got nervous; my mind filling up with worries and what ifs. But I remembered what my father said 23 years ago when Maverick was attempting to scale a low fence as a toddler. I was just about to shout out a word of caution to her when he said, "Don't! The moment you say 'Be careful' to them is the time they learn about gravity." So true; I bit my tongue and let her be. What do you know, she scaled that fence like a tightrope walker.
So I got in the car a tad worried still but said nothing to them except, "Have fun." I was praying for my phone not to ring, afraid it might be news of a bad fall, or worse, a collision with an oncoming vehicle. But it did ring. It was Bidi, proudly announcing: "Mom, guess what? I went over my first hump today! Maverick taught me how."
It is heartwarming--all this, from siblings 14 years apart and of different genders.
He trusted her enough to finally ask to be released. So off he went, at an ant's pace initially. With her infinite patience he is now able to carve and make little zigzag motions as he traverses the street in front of the house. She, meanwhile, still runs alongside him for moral support.
On my way out to a dinner tonight, I chanced upon them both right outside the gate--at it again, long board in tow. I noticed that the street isn't properly illuminated and that there is a blind corner up ahead. I immediately got nervous; my mind filling up with worries and what ifs. But I remembered what my father said 23 years ago when Maverick was attempting to scale a low fence as a toddler. I was just about to shout out a word of caution to her when he said, "Don't! The moment you say 'Be careful' to them is the time they learn about gravity." So true; I bit my tongue and let her be. What do you know, she scaled that fence like a tightrope walker.
So I got in the car a tad worried still but said nothing to them except, "Have fun." I was praying for my phone not to ring, afraid it might be news of a bad fall, or worse, a collision with an oncoming vehicle. But it did ring. It was Bidi, proudly announcing: "Mom, guess what? I went over my first hump today! Maverick taught me how."
It is heartwarming--all this, from siblings 14 years apart and of different genders.
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