Big Day, Big Tears

Big day around here. Everyone had the day off, including Eric (teacher workday or something), so we decided to be adventurous and take the whole family to see a movie. Wall-e was playing at the dollar theatre, so we figured that even if the experience was a disaster, we would only be out less than $5. Ben was very excited to be going to his first movie.

That is, until we walked into the theatre. Trailers were playing, and they were LOUD. That, combined with the dark, did not make for a good start. Ben spent the first half hour sitting on the floor sneaking an occasional peek through the seats in front of him. When I asked him later what his favorite part of the movie was, he said it was the fruit punch and popcorn (which he did not even eat, mind you).

Ali was a pro. She got antsy about 15 minutes from the end so I tried to nurse her. Yeah, right. She did just fine when I decided to stand with her in the back.

Eric had a grand old time.

Fast forward to this afternoon. The neighborhood kids were out playing and James was out with the boys as well. James came in to get his tools because Eric decided he wanted his training wheels off. Here is a photographic look at that experience...

Ok, I know alot of kids' first tries at bike riding end in tears, but these photos are deceiving. Eric did not fall. He did not hurt himself. The problem was, he did not simply speed off, popping wheelies all the way across the yard as he invisioned. It was hard.

This whole scene transpired over about 3 minutes. James walked him on the bike across the front yard about 3 times. He never fell, but he had a hard time maneuvering his bike and it kept falling over when he tried to walk with it.

And so he quit. And asked for his training wheels to be put back on, to which his father replied No. Thus, the last photo. He has now decided he wishes he never even had a bike and he will never EVER ride again. Ever. (although he was not keen on my idea to sell his bike)

Poor kid. I totally get him. We had a talk about practicing, and he admitted that he did not want to ride because he was not good at it right away. Sigh. The amazing thing is, I should have seen this coming back when Eric was a few days old. Back when I thought there was something wrong with me because nursing him was so hard. In hindsight, the problem was that Eric the infant could not nurse EXACTLY how he wanted to and so he would quit. Wish me luck, folks.