This week I'm sending you a book called The Library Mouse.
A kid told me yesterday her friend laughs when she writes her numbers 'because they look weird'.
💔
I told her the learning journeys are different for everyone.
And I've been reminding myself of that recently too. A load of my friends' four and five-year-olds are cruising to school on their bikes.
Mine is not.
The pang of guilt, is real, like I've failed at one of the bog-standard parenting jobs. But the pang is temporary, because I remind myself too, everyone's learning journey is different. (Also, rational me is sure that riding a bike that young without stabilisers is fab, but also probably not the norm!?).
Anyway let's rewind a few years…
My daughter got the most beautiful red Bobbin bike from my parents for her second birthday. I was so excited - it was going to be so cute watching her ride it! Plus getting her riding so early was awesome!
Except… it just wasn't her thing. No matter how hard we tried to get her interested. And knowing that little kids need to be hooked in by their interests, not ours, I wasn't about to force it.
So the bike sat there. She grew. We went away for a while – somewhere way too sandy and jungly for bike riding – and the whole thing paused.
But since we've been back in E17, she's started to show a little interest. We have been gearing up for the commitment to practising. It's a real undertaking to take the bike to the park when you know you'll likely be the one lugging it back. I have to admit, I have yet to commit to this.
But before the park schlep will feel worth it, we need to find a bike she can actually ride. I can't count all the attempts to get the perfect bike.
Get a pretty one, she'll love it (but it's old and clunky).
Get one with stabilisers (but it's sooo heavy).
I think we're there now: the right size, the right weight, (she seems to be over the aesthetics). She wants to learn. This might actually be it.
Naturally, there have been moments when I've wanted to shove the bike(s) in a hedge. But if I'm going to preach bendy confidence for a living, I have to actually live it. So here I am, round five, six, seven, still going strong. Will it work this time? No idea. But I'm not giving up.
Just like the clever little mouse in this week's book.
The Library Mouse by Frances Tosdevin + Sophia O'Connor
He loves writing. He's written a whole book and he desperately wants to share it with the world, so he tries to tell everyone about it. And it fails. He tries a different way. Fails again. Tries again. By the time he's tried and failed so many times, he's convinced that despite everything, despite really trying, this just isn't going to work for him.
And then – the very next go is the one that makes things happen for him.
This is what I asked my kids when we read it this weekend:
- Have you ever tried something loads of times and it still didn't work? What did that feel like?
- What's one thing you could try differently next time, if the same way isn't working?
- Is there something you nearly gave up on, but kept going with anyway? How did it turn out?
So: we're not giving up on the bike. What are you not giving up on this week?
Love,
Becca