You never forget how to ride a bike:)

I know, I know, its only been about two years since my last blog update, but what can I say, life just kind of took over!  I really am going to try and be more frequent with my blogs because I do talk to so many of you each day via emails and messengers etc and your issues seem to be my issues and the sisterhood of motherhood can be so supportive.

As many of you know, I have a son with severe learning disabilities and autism.  My son and all his crazy rituals and obsessions really do bring so much joy/headaches/laughter/frustration to my life and I happily share my experiences with customers who whilst shopping for a teepee happen to mention that the purchase is for their own child with special needs. 

I think one of the biggest joy's of my work is hearing about your children and family life, so if some of my blogs tend to talk about my family life I really hope I am not boring you all senseless, its just that first of all I adore being mummy and secondly, having been mummy/mum/mother/taxi driver/I hate you/I love you for 17 years, I do tend to have quite an honest approach to the whole thing now, so you may even enjoy the blogs and even relate to them!

Anyway, as much as I love talking about my son, I am actually going to talk about my daughter, my youngest one Gabriella, who is 7 years old.
Today Gabriella has been trying really hard to ride her bike without her stabilizers and it really is quite incredible watching your child learning a new skill that once mastered, they will never ever forget. 

Unfortunately for Gabriella, her brain still hasn't quite remembered the whole balance keep moving thing today, so no doubt we will be back out tomorrow in full gear ready to give it another go.
At the age of 7 it might seem a little late that she has not yet mastered the art of riding her bicycle and I would tend to agree, but little Gabriella was born 11 weeks early so has always been a little behind and regardless of all this, I think children should meet their milestones when they choose too and not when that little red book (you know the one that you can never find and it is usually jammed in the draw) says they should!

Last summer however, she was really keen to get on her bike and start peddling, but that was before a freak accident caused her to fly off a bouncy castle, fracturing her skull and causing a sub-dural bleed on her brain requiring a 5 hour brain surgery and a good few weeks of rehabilitation that absolutely did not involve getting on a bicycle and attempting to learn to ride it!

There were some shaky moments last summer when she really was critically unwell that I did wonder if she would ever get back on a bike at all , so watching her and daddy outside tonight in the last bit of sunlight laughing and smiling as she got closer and closer to her balance really was overwhelming.  Our children never ever stop surprising us with the things that they overcome and I really am proud of my little one for getting back on her bike:)

I hope you are all having a fantastic holiday with your own little ones and its perfect weather for bike riding, so lets just hope little Gabriella keeps moving and masters it soon!