Well, we did survive Brianna's princess party. Fortunately for me, we ended up with only three little princesses. I had forgotten how hyper three five-year-olds can be. You can dress them up like princesses, but they're still going to race up and down the halls terrorizing the cats. All in all, it was a fine time that the girls enjoyed, probably even more than they would have if we had done all my cool little princess activities.

We gave Brianna a bicycle for her birthday. It is pink and purple and sparkly, and it has training wheels. She is quite pleased. She has been riding on the long stretch of paved alley that the driveways come off of in our little neighborhood. There is a bit of a slope--enough that when she starts down, I cannot run fast enough to keep up with her. She pedals in total confidence, the wind blowing her hair back as she speeds along.
I was a few years older when I got my first bike. I t didn't have training wheels. It was pink too, but a quiet pastel pink instead of a flashy hot pink. And it had flowers on the seat cover. It didn't come from an impersonal Walmart like Brianna's. My grandfather got it from a firend of his who ran a bike sho pand repainted it that pale pink just for me. But I was much more cautious than Brianna. If I had ever started to go as fast as she does, I would have slowed myself down --what if a cat ran in front of me or something? I don't really remember riding my bike TO places much, just around and around the church parking lot until my daydreaming got the better of my balance.
Years later, I decided I needed a bike again. I thought it would be a car-free mode of transportation. And I bought into that whole thing that people say about, "It's just like riding a bike." I really thought I would sit down on the bike and naturally balance and then move through the world with grace and ease. But I never found grace or ease or even much balance on my bike. That was quite a disappointment.
So when I watch Brianna flying full-speed down the alley the first day on her bike, I am in awe. And I am grateful, once again, for the ways she is not like me.