Learning to ride a bike

When Maria was about 6 years old, she wanted to learn to ride a bike. Her older sisters and brother had 10 speed bikes that summer and were always riding around the rural roads. Maria and her little brother had to stay home.

There were only two bikes left behind. One was large black bike with no brakes - not even manual. It was also way to big for Maria or Tomas to ride. The other was a smaller green bike the color of a John Deer tractor. While it was still a little big, Maria and Tomas were determined to learn how to ride it.

The hardest part was figuring out how to start it. Neither Maria nor Tomas could sit on the seat and touch the ground. The driveway and road were made of loose gravel and not easy to get a push start. Maria and Tomas surveyed the farm to see what they could do.

The driveway was very long and straight next to the house. There was a pear tree, an apple tree and a sand box on the other side of the drive. then there was a hill sloping down to an open yard. Maria remembered that her father would drive his truck around that way sometimes. The ground there was pretty firm under the springy grass.

Maria got an idea. She took the bike to an open space at the end of the driveway where the hill began to slope downwards. She straddled the bike and ran a few steps, then jumped on the seat. She rode down the hill! But she could not get her feet on the peddles in time to pump them around. She lost her balance and fell down.

Tomas thought this was a great idea and tried it next. They took turns trying to jump on the bike, gain their balance and begin peddling. They spent a long time on this and would get back up every time they fell down. That is until Tomas missed the seat and landed right on the bar of the bike. Ouch! He was done for the day.

Maria kept trying and trying, day after day. Each day she would make a little farther down the hill balanced on the bike. Soon she could peddle all the way up the other side of the hill back to the driveway. She was very determined. Soon she could even ride the bike down the gravel driveway and she helped Tomas do the same.

Their brother and sister did not think it was that big of a deal. But Maria and Tomas were so excited to show their parents. Their mother and father were impressed and very proud!

P.S. Maria and Tomas got new bikes a few years later too - with banana seats and big handle bars!

First day of Kindergarten

Maria was so excited - she was going to school for the very first time. She was going to be a big kid!

Maria and her mother picked out a dress and a sweater for her first day at school. She received a clear plastic bag with yellow flowers on it and a long handle to carry all of her papers and supplies - two pencils, big crayons and manila paper. Maria did not have a lunch box as Kindergarten was only half a day.

That morning, Maria dressed quickly and ate breakfast. Her mother wrote her name, address and telephone number as well as her teacher's name on a piece of paper and pinned it to Maria's sweater.

Maria walked with her mother to the end of the driveway with her bag and they waited for the bus. It was a very big bus and Maria felt like she was the smallest person there.

When the bus arrived at the school, Maria got off with all of the other children. There were several other buses with exiting children as well. There were so many children, Maria just saw blurs of color moving around her. She felt a little lost.

Finally she saw an adult who looked like she was directing the chaos. Maria went to her and tugged on her jacket. The woman looked down and asked what she could do for Maria. Maria felt very shy and just pointed to the note pinned to her sweater. The woman read the note, kindly took Maria's hand and walked Maria to her classroom.

Maria was very relieved when the Kindergarten teacher smiled at her and welcomed her to her classroom. Then she saw all of the children and was very happy to be in the bright sunny room. Her socializing days had just begun!