Patience Required

Summer break started this past Monday for my kids. I figured since I didn't have any work to do today, I would take them to the park. My intentions were not to go somewhere to play though. I told Dominick, a few weeks ago, that I was going to work on his running speed with him. The deal with Lanie is to get her riding her bike with no training wheels by the end of the summer.
So I loaded up the kids, a bike, some running gear and the family dog , and we headed to the park. When we got there, I set up a ten yard marker and a twenty yard marker. Dominick did touch and go's in about 18 seconds flat but kept burning out at the end of his run. This is what I noticed a lot during his soccer games this past season. He would explode after the ball, but as soon as the faster kids caught up, he would burn out and quit. This is very frustrating to watch and this is why we are going to work on his running and speed all summer long.
As for Lanie....she is seven years old and still rides with training wheels. I don't know what the norm is for this or if there is one, but I am determined to get her riding without them by the end of this summer. You see, she knows how to balance her bike. She can coast on it for pretty good distances with her feet off of the pedals. Her fear is, that if she puts her feet on the pedals, she will lose her balance and crash. Someone once told me, "Take her to a park so that she can ride in the grass". Grass is softer than asphalt, making it easier if you crash. Of course, now the only problem is, it's harder to move anywhere when you're in the grass. So she spent most of the time just sitting on her bike and balancing it in one spot. There is an eight foot decline that leads to the flat area of the field that I thought would be a great launching ramp. After five minutes of whining, she finally set her mind to it and rode down the hill. She actually stayed up but forgot to put her feet on the pedals and continue motion once she was at the bottom of the hill.
This is where I am going to need a little extra patience this summer. It will be tough, but it will be productive. By the of the summer, I know that Dominick will be faster in the sport he is passionate about. And, I know that Lanie will finally be riding like a pro.
Now I just have to prepare myself to teach Anthony (the wild man) how to ride.