Velodrome Victories.

Yesterday was a fantastic day for Team GB. The shower of Olympic gold was impressive, heady and tipped us fans of British Cycling over the edge of ecstasy. (I was at work yesterday evening, and realised the days events ' schedule was CYCLING, when I was with Mr H, one of my patients who loves to follow the Olympics on the bedside telly, and has become a harbinger of Good News for us, as we nurses often ask him about the latest Team GB victories!!) With poorly controlled enthusiasm after a peek at the nail -biting events unfolding on my patients' Hospedia screens, I bantered and chatted with the lovely people- my patients, their families, young kids visiting their Dad, granddad or uncles, as the historic events unfolded! Many of them shared my grins and agreed that this was the most amazing day- with  Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton  and the Fab Four boys taking the podium. Here's to many more victories, personal and national, and many many more people who can, potentially discover the joys of bicycling!!!
 As the band played 'God save the Queen...' and the crowds sang as one voice, their voices clear, patriotic and emotionally charged with boundless fervour and joy I felt optimistic, happy and a bit nostalgic myself! Memories of a childhood spent roaming carefree and joyous, along deserted summer streets in India came to my mind. Riding on a bike exploring the neighbourhood with my brother and sister for company in the early 1980s, I had forgotten the freedom and peace just being on a noiseless piece of engineering gives a person! All this happened as I went about my duties, on the ward, but part of me was also proud and thankful to TEAM GB in general and Victoria Pendleton in particular, for encouraging and inspiring me, a mother of 2, to take up cycling again, here in GB. Having participated in two Cycletta events myself, and with increasing confidence as I now cycle on the roads, I feel Cycletta has inspired not only me, but also many thousands of mums, grannies and teenagers alike to join the women's cycling revolution!
Why am I waxing eloquent about my love and passion of cycling, when I'm blogging about my daughter, you ask? The reason is simple, if a bit unusual. When S was four, her Granny (my MiL) brought her a little bicycle for her birthday. S loved a good set of wheels. As a four-year-old, she thought it unfair that her toddler sis gota ride while she walked alongside me. To her great frustration, she had grown too tall for the 'buggy board' I'd used on the back of her baby sister's stroller, to ferry her to nursery and back.
S had enjoyed bumming along on the trikes at her nursery the previous term, and we had hoped she would learn to love riding her bike. All kids do, I figured, and it would give her a bit of gentle exercise, which I often craved myself, owing to our unpredictable TBW: Typical British Weather. If this worked out, I reasoned, it would scatter her daredevil sense of bravado over a wider area of the neighbourhood as she took her energetic self outdoors with me on my own bike...
But it was a case of 'Man proposes, God disposes...'. Mind you, this was before her SN were formally acknowledged via a statement and well before B and MiL even began to comprehend there COULD be some truth to her Nursery School SENCO's recommendation that her School Placement works closely with us parents and investigates her Social Communication, Language & Gross and Fine Motor Skill Difficulties... It was simply too much to expect and dream on my part, I guess. Harder still for her,too. In spite of hours of careful and patient demos from me, and the training wheels still attached, she pedalled, furiously, backwards, rendering herself immobile and immensely frustrated. At our 'attempted rides' she sat on the bike, rigid with anger or pound her feet on the ground and bang her small, sensitive palms viciously on the handlebars yet refuse to get off the bike. In all, the agony I went through watching her helplessly locked in that state of extreme frustration was what put me off kids' bikes altogether.  In S' case, there is something to be said for consistency of behaviour. A pattern has emerged, which I can now clearly see, but at the time, it made me go numb with helpless worry and turned her into a chopper whose blades whirred furiously fast and dangerously close to my sanity. S has always gone from a difficult task=frustration=meltdown. any help proffered is often unwelcome and boy! does she tell me that!  She'll scream, cry and shout at me (or my husband) launching herself into a tizzy of frustration and a cesspool of deep anger...
But today is four-years-later... today is gloriously sunny, and I feel particularly optimistic! I will try today to take my (now) 8 year old (who has always had a love-hate relationships with all tasks involving balancing owing to her motor skills' difficulties) and attempt to get her and her little sister to start riding their little bike. At an appointment last month,her OT (Occupational Therapist) mentioned that if I was keen for her to balance on a bicycle and slowly get used to the idea of stability, (before she even learns to pedal,) I should take the pedals off the bike... something I'm going to try today!
So, whilst they eat their breakfast and change, I'd better get stuck in an sort out their bike, testing its road worthiness, and giving it some TLC via a can of WD 40!
Wish us luck!!

Cakes, Bakes and summer Birthdays- Vol 2

B's birthday was aglow with the beauty of the summer sun, and made me smile as soon as I pulled back the curtains.  Actually, it was R who woke me up with her excited cry of " Mummyyy, we have to finish Dade's cake (she says Daddy and writes it as Dade, and, so did I.)!! So, I got up and we all wished B a very happy birthday.He was sorry he had to go to work (little knowing the surprise I had in store for him later!) and promised to try to get home soon that evening.
After the girls had their lunch, I fried some samosas added squashes for the journey and a packet of Doritos to our backpack and set off with the girls beside me in their summer hats and jumpsuits. We walked to a bus stop nearby and waited for our bus to arrive. After half-an-hour of waiting (by which time the girls had counted cars, trucks and trailers, smiled at babies in buggies and women on bicycles and swigged from their drink bottles a few times) the bus drew up level and we got inside, thankful to have escaped the heat for a bit! Then, S started her favourite 'journey' game, loudly commenting on why the bus made her fall back into her seat (at which I tried to recollect my vaguely remembered knowledge of Physics- momentum and the inertia of motion) She seemed satisfied by my answer but the answer itself, gave rise to more questions. I promised to google it later on, and show her the results. So, once more, peace prevailed in the bus! On public transport, S constantly observes people, things and views out of the window, and occasionally says, "Are we there, yet!!?" a-la- donkey in SHREK. She is fidgety, affectionate and sometimes gets upset when I tell her off for smacking her little sister out in public places. At home, she is always pushing, punching, poking or shoving her sister, which makes me sad and angry.
When we reached Hemel Hempstead, where B works as a store manager in the Town Centre, we thanked the bus driver, got down at the stop and made our way down the high street.
Inside B's store, his staff, who were in on the surprise, tried to help smuggle us upstairs to B's office. S, however, had different plans, and had started giggling, and grinned at her Dad when she caught his eye! So, we all came out of hiding, and it was so worthwhile just to see the delighted surprise on B's face as he said, "Hi!! What are you all doing here!!!?" and scooped the squealing, smiling girls up into a big, high hug!
Later, after an office-room birthday celebration with his good colleagues AB and NG, we headed home after the tills had been balanced and the store closed for the day. The ride home, in B's car was special too, as we felt part of his daily commute; something I had only imagined him doing everyday for the last few years.  the kids chatted excitedly in the back, and nibbled on the Doritos. The wind whipped through my hair as I gazed contentedly at the orange ball of fire that was the setting sun, dipping down gracefully, low on the horizon...It had been a good day!
We chatted about the loveliness of the countryside, his face and eyes bathed in the glow of the sunset. Inside, I smiled and thanked the Lord for having given me the idea and will to do this for us all. In more ways than one, it was a truly beautiful birthday!! Happy Birthday, honey! You are the sun, glowing on my horizon, guiding me home, making me fly... you are the laughter of our children, the naughty twinkle in their eyes, the gentle touch of their fingers and the trusting clasp of their tiny hands... You, my dear, are my life.
Thank you for being mine!
xxx