Riding the Bicycle of Life

Albert Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle – in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.” As a mom of a toddler and one on the way, a devoted wife, a third grade teacher, a maid of honor and a blogger – I often hit bumps in the road. These metaphorical bumps can try to knock me off of my bike, but I always keep my eyes forward, hands on the handlebars, and feet on the pedals. I can’t stop, won’t stop, never stop moving.

Trying to balance work, motherhood, friends/family, and everything else life throws at you can be difficult. But once you get in a routine, anything is manageable. I am a firm believer in To-Do lists for organization and journaling, or reading my devotional, when I start to feel unbalanced. I want to teach Annabelle to be prepared for the potholes on the road of life. I want her to know that it isn’t the end of the world if she ever falls off of her bike. We all fall off our bikes sometimes. You just have to brush yourself off, get back on, and keep moving.

I vaguely remember learning how to ride a bike – I was older than most children and we had just moved to a new house in a new town. I recall the training wheels halfway unscrewed – wobbly and off balance – so that I was mainly riding on the two wheels (instead of four). The thrill of knowing I was doing something new, all by myself, was equally thrilling and terrifying. But my parents cheered me on, and when I finally figured out how to balance on just two wheels…What an accomplishment! My mom tells me about the pride they felt in their hearts seeing their daughter perform what at first seemed a daunting task.

Of course I would fall off of my bike at some point – 22 years later I have the scar on my knee to prove it. But I never feared climbing back on for most children don’t fear failure. And my parents always taught me to learn from my mistakes.

While growing up, life presents you with numerous opportunities to learn something new. The opportunity may seem scary – the unknown is never comforting. Similar to learning to ride a bike, there will be a process to accomplishing something new. With each new chapter in life, you start off unsteady, but stabilizing as you progress. The road might be rocky, but if we use these incidents as training wheels of life, we can learn from those shaky times and build goals from each new occurrence. Just like riding your bike you ‘never stop moving” – with life never stop learning.

Annabelle’s adorable bicycle outfit is c/o Sandy Bottoms Shop. Jessica Tanner’s Etsy shop is filled with adorable handmade skirts, bloomers, and dresses for your little girl. The “Girl on Bike” print skirt and matching “Girlie Bike” t-shirt are hand sewn with love and care. The skirt has an elastic waist to fit your growing toddler. It is made from a pretty pink fabric adorned with girls riding colorful bicycles and finished off with a delicate black and white polka dot and red rick rack hem. Annabelle LOVED her skirt so much that she kept twirling around and saying she was just like Katerina the Ballerina from “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”

The t-shirt is soft, a little form fitting for your little girl, and has a cute pink and black polka dot bike on the center. You can even add a monogram to it if you’d like! Sandy Bottoms Shop also sent Annabelle a black polka dotted bow to match the hem on her skirt and the bike seat on her shirt. There is an alligator clip glued to the back of the bow so it was easy to attach to Annabelle’s teensy ponytail. She has never liked bows and I was surprised she let me clip it in! Doesn’t the bow look precious in her hair?

One lucky reader can win Annabelle’s Colorful Bicycle Outfit from Sandy Bottoms Shop this week! All you have to do is complete a few tasks on the Rafflecopter below. Good luck! The giveaway ends next Monday March 14th at midnight.
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