Training Wheels…

Photo Credit: Yankrukov

Age 3 | Preschool

Pierce received a new bike from my parents when he was three - his first.  It was a limited edition, Disney “Planes” bike, complete with training wheels,  splashed out with characters,  and seat suspension.  It was more than anything a little boy could ask for.   On sunny days, we would swap the stroller for the bike and have Pierce “ride it to daycare” (a 17 minute walk). He always struggled to pedal and ride for long distances…or any distances at that age.  In fairness to him, it was a heavy bike,  and riding a bike (even with training wheels) on uneven city sidewalks is challenging.    

He would tire after a block or so and would hop on and off the bike, walking and giggling next to us. It was more of an exercise of futility because the end result was always the same — we spent more time pushing or walking the bike, than Pierce did riding it.   My husband and I didn’t think much of it, we chalked it up to Pierce being Pierce (tiring so quickly), or not always wanting to push himself out of his comfort zone.  He always did have an adorable way of wriggling out of doing anything physical, or that didn’t fall into his realm of fun. 

Image Credit: Breno Cardoso

In hindsight, despite his height,  and now knowing about his dyspraxia, I think he just didn’t have the leg strength or the muscle tone that his peers had at the same age.  Pierce just didn’t have the physical ability to power his bike or sustain it - even if he wanted to.  In addition to that, the act of learning to ride a bike meant he also had to learn to coordinate his body to balance, pedal, steer, and brake at a hair trigger’s notice. This is a tremendously long string of motor instructions, focus, and physical ability to manage for a dyspraxic little boy . With the help of his “avoidant behaviour”(put loosely) - albeit as giggly, and charming as it was - he was sooo good at masking when he was struggling, that as parents, we never picked up on his dyspraxia at that early age.