Bicycle

A few months ago I took the training wheels off of my daughter's bicycle, and we went out behind our place with the intention of "teaching" her how to ride. She tried two or three times, got frustrated and gave up. She's only five, so I figured there was no real point in pressuring her about it.

The other day we decided to give it another go. I was expecting something similar to our first attempt, so I was mentally prepared for a certain amount of frustration. This time we packed her bike into the car and drove to a park. (I figured that if things went unsuccessfully again, we could at least have some fun playing at the park.)

We arrived at the park and I took the bicycle out of the car. As I'm rooting around for some protective gear (knee pads, etc.) my daughter jumps onto the bicycle and rides off, leaving me standing there, slack-jawed, and feeling a strange mixture of happiness and uselessness. I guess I'd better start getting used to this feeling.