The time has come

and also gone. These pics were actually taken last night when after flying up the street on his bike, C declared that he wanted the training wheels off. Hurray!! I had only come outside to let the kids know that dinner would be ready in about 5 minutes' time, but who cared now? Cold pasta is certainly a fair trade off to a training wheel-less bike so I ran inside and told T that his work would have to wait and he needed to come outside right now. And he did. C was so excited while daddy took them off, but as soon as we put him on the bike to give it a go, his mood was changed. Now he was afraid. All these people watching with anticipation was a bit more pressure than he was prepared for and the first trial run did not end well. I do not endorse quitting, but I also do not support undue pressure on a child so the decision to tell him that his training wheels would not be put back on his bike was not one made lightly. He is 6 years old, too old to still rely on them. We told him this while he ate his dinner at the same time informing him that the next day when he got off the bus we would try again. He was apprehensive but generally ok with the idea. As the evening wore on, he began to even get excited about it. So we will see later on this afternoon how he does when we take him to the park to try again.
This one was taken by M. Look, she even has my tilt down! I think I am getting a little teary-eyed!

Ok, here we are this afternoon with his game face on. No intimidation here.

Scoping out the territory, planning their attack...

And it was time to give it a shot...over and over and over again.

Definite progress was made. He has a ways to go, but I know he's gonna get there!