How do they do it?

I'm no super hero, this much has been established. There are occasions, however, that do require super-hero strength, determination, and focus in my life and I know I'm not alone in this. A few such experiences have happened recently that have caused me to be in awe of those that have gone before me as stable working people contributing to the betterment of our society, loving parents, students, teachers, etc. The student keeping up with their social life and their studies, the parents functioning on less than the minimum sleep recommendation, the father that makes healthy meals for the family, the mother that helps research a science project, the pay checks that come home and pay the bills and all the wonderful memories of special times together. How in the world did/do they do it and keep up with it all? Really, they must be super heros.

We are still a one car family which has it's pluses and minuses. One plus/minus is that with the girls going in different directions for school 5 mornings a week one parents has to ride bikes with Lavinia each school day. This has become am exhilarating treat for me, specially on beautiful days. Since I do most of my work from home Monday-Wednesday, the pleasure is often mine to make the 3 mile round trip in the morning and afternoon. Last week I had the added, we'll call it "pleasure" as well, to have Helena riding along side of me to pick up Lavinia one day. Our trip was riddled with problems. When we were a little over half way there and already late (I'm usually early when I ride) I finally put Helena on my bike and her bike on my handlebars. With Helena holding on to my waist for dear life I peddled none stop the rest of the way there unable to sit on my bike seat due to the three year old precariously perched there. Pick-up was still going on when we got to the school (so we weren't officially late) and the teachers and parents that watched us roll in clapped for us when we landed safely. My hands were pinched in the bike spokes, my jeans black from the tire marks and my legs shaking from the effort. I was exhausted and couldn't wait to sit down. Still, after parking our bikes we pressed on and met Lavinia at the school's bike rack.

In 5 minutes we were back on the road, helmets in place and Helena once again on her own bike for what I thought would be a leisurely little ride home. Most of my work for the day was finished and with the exception of a few e-mails and figuring out dinner I actually didn't have much to do so we could enjoy the ride. And we did, for about a block. At this point Helena's training wheel decided it wasn't tight enough and slipped on every bump, crack or wobble and the bike, with Helena on board and peddling with all her might, would fall over. We would stop (Lavinia would grumble, me too but not out loud), pick up the bike, brush Helena off, kiss any new owies, kick the training wheel back in place, try to secure the wheel, get Helena back on and start going again. After 6 blocks and more than a dozen spills a wailing Helena announced: "I all done ride bike!" I couldn't blame her, after all, I wouldn't like that very much either. However, my legs hurt so much already from trying to get to the school on time that I couldn't imagine going over a mile the same way. Our solution had Helena and I riding side by side while I rode with one hand on my handlebars and one on Helena's to stable, balance and steer. Right. I was trying to balance and steer not only myself but a three year old on an unstable bike 16 inches below me. Go ahead and laugh uproariously now, you can already see what's coming.

Other than my shoulder and back getting tight and then eventually feeling like it was on fire, we actually did fairly well. Unlike you may suspect we didn't run into each other, she didn't pull me off balance into a collision or really any other disaster. Almost. When we were almost home Helena decided to try again on her own. I let go of the handlebars for her and within seconds not only had her training wheel slipped again but she steered right into my front wheel. Sitting on the street laughing with Lavinia racing back to us (we ate her dust most of the way home) to see if we were ok, Helena looked at me and asked: "You ok mommy?" She kissed my owie, helped me pick up both of our bikes, kicked the training wheel in place, and said "Let's go mommy, we can do it."

The rest of our ride was uneventful, I still held onto her bike while we rode and we giggled from time to time when our eyes met which wasn't often since I was focused on the street and two bikes plus Lavinia in front of us. I wondered how many more times I could do these kind of things and still wind up laughing on my butt in the street and then realized that it didn't really matter, what mattered was right now. Helping my little girl balance was the job I had to do today.

How did/do those people do it? One day, one task, one purpose at a time.