Confidence
Sometimes people need to be pushed into doing something before they will try it and find they have the ability to do it. Last Sunday, my wife and I took our three very young sons to the local schoolyard to ride their bicycles. When we got back to our building afterward, our youngest son, Ammon, four, got his little bicycle with training wheels over the one step in the doorway, but stood helplessly at the bottom of the five steps up to the elevator. His mother wanted to help him by carrying one end of the bike, but I felt that he was big enough and smart enough to the job himself, so I sent my wife and two other sons upstairs while Ammon worked on the problem. His oldest brother, Ben, seven, was behind him, wanting to go up the stairs. I told Ammon to stand aside and let Ben carry his bike up first. Ammon watched as Ben seized his bike around the middle and walked easily up the steps. As Ben and the other members of the family rode the elevator up to our apartment, Ammon got a comfortable grip on his bike, lifted it as high as he could and shuffled his way up the steps. He had a little trouble at the top step when the training wheels caught on the railing and steps, but he kept trying and soon had his bicycle firmly on the landing. I was proud of my son’s ability to learn by watching his brother and adapt what he had learned to his own size and strength. And I was proud of my ability to get a little child who felt helpless to make a big effort and succeed. (289)