things we'd rather not mention

okay, girls, i have a confession to make. i don't really know how to ride a bike. it's okay though, i've been faking it for over 40 years. well....it's mostly okay. so, yesterday i'm riding with all three of you and i try a quick turn in a gravel parking lot. what?! i know you're thinking that you can't do that sort of thing. well, you see, if i knew how to ride a bike, i'd know these things. but since my career at bike riding started with crashing my tricycle and loosing my front baby tooth, i have lots of practice at what not to do. like, you don't race your very athletic sister on a bike down a steep hill. (that time, i chipped the adult replacement tooth, scraped a knee.) and you don't try to jump the ditch in your front yard when there is just a dirt/tar road on the other side. (no teeth were harmed that time.) so let's just say when i was 25 and bought my current bike your Nanah said "why would you want a bike?" nevermind the fact that i thought it would be fun to race down hills in San Francisco. so i've managed to keep myself injury free for the past decade or so. hopefully you will not pay for my folly.... i promise Phoebe that i didn't mean to drop the bike with you on it. it just skidded and with you on the bike it was top heavy. good thing for helmets, you bounced right off the gravel and didn't even get a scrape. i'm just glad that you were in front of me so that i could guide your fall down. needless to say you aren't very happy with the bike riding right now. but i would think that you should like the helmet a little better. it does have great road wear dings on it now. anyway, as they say, get right back up on the horse/bike. and i won't try any more stunt moves when i have you riding with me.

really it's good training. we all need to learn not to be afraid. take B. she fell off the bed numerous times (it was on the floor, short fall) and then took on the stairs and has practice falling down all our stairs, including the outside ones. But B is not deterred or afraid. she is in fact like a cat and always manages to land the right way. hardly ever a scratch really. this has made her somewhat of a daredevil or maybe she did all this stuff because that is what she is. someday i expect her to run off and join the circus. fortunately V, you were watched like a hawk, being the first child. you would not fall until learning how to walk and never went a walking moment without a scratch on one or two knees. (B has yet to teach you how to fall without a scratch.) you are better now, but still you can have a tumble now and again. you will even fall out of a chair with no apparent cause. maybe you are practicing pratfalls and it will be a comic thing. we'll go with that. Phoebe, you have taken a spill or two off the bed when we are sleeping but you are doing fine and you seem to be more aware of your surroundings than your sisters when awake. you will try the stairs but cautiously and always seem to stop yourself before you get to a dangerous point. this is a good thing because with your two somewhat demanding sisters i sometimes get distracted, and you get more free reign than i'd like on some days. hopefully i will be better when you all are in school.

so that's it. my confessions. just in case you were wondering why B wants to be in a circus and P hates riding bikes and V can't really walk in high heels. high heels are overrated.