Emmett’s just learning to ride his bike. We’ve had some periods of impatience and frustration, but overall, things are going well.
The other evening, he and I were out in the street, practicing his starts, when some of the neighbor kids came over to ride, too. Emmett got upset, because he can’t seem to not pay attention to these other riders when they’re nearby. So he finally stopped one of them and said, “You need to stay away from me; I’m trying to ride my bike!”
Later, when I was lying with Emmett at bedtime, I said, “Emmett, you have to speak nicely to your friends. Instead of saying what you did, just say something like, ‘Please give me a little space to ride right now. I’m just learning.’ OK?”
“Well,” he said, “those two things were racing in my head, but that one was too slow!”
At least there was a race.