The Architect Hesitated,
The Glitter Bomb Launched

Same Road, Two Maps: Parenting Different Children

There are moments in parenting when you realize you’re not just raising little humans—you’re navigating two completely different personalities on the same road.

A few years ago the girls got new bikes for Christmas and the excitement levels were unmeasurable. All bundled up and covered in every piece of safety gear that exists, we headed outside. 

Same driveway. 

Same activity. 

Same mom standing by, hoping for the best.

But the reactions could not have been more different. 

The Glitter-Bomb didn’t hesitate. 

She climbed on, pushed off and launched down the sidewalk like she was born riding a bike. I mean seriously – the kid was halfway down the block and had fully activated her selective hearing feature, ignoring my attempts to call her back. 

No hesitation. 

No fear. 

No analysis needed.

Just pure glitter-powered confidence.

Meanwhile, The Architect was in full panic mode. 

She sat on her bike with her feet firmly planted to the ground and her hands gripping the handlebars like she was hanging from a cliff.

“I’m not ready. I don’t know what to do.”

We had to walk through every step. Every possibility, Every what-if. 

“Put your feet here and start pushing this one then this one.”

“Steer by moving the handles this way and that way.”
“If you fall, it will be ok. I’m right here and I’ll help you.”

“You have all the safety-gear on, baby. It will be ok.”

“If you start to lean to the side, don’t panic. Just slowly tilt to the other side.”

“You might get hurt but it’s unlikely when we are going .000946969697 miles per hour”

15 minutes later, The Architect and I had barely moved from the start line. 

The Glitter-Bomb had already passed Go and collected a couple hundred dollars multiple times with her feet pedaling as fast as they could.

“I can feel the air in my hair Mama!” She yelled as she zipped past. 

It was cute as hell to me.

But to The Architect? It was infuriating. 

She was ready to find a boulder to place in her sister’s path and was immediately ready to give up – to put the bike away and go back inside where it was cozy and safe.

She can be determined to quit when she’s uncomfortable.

Unfortunately for her, that kind of stubbornness came from her mom and I’m not about to give in without her even giving it a shot. 

So we kept working on it. 

Every time we went out, the Glitter-Bomb would take off like a bat out of hell, and The Architect would cautiously and carefully make her way down the track.

It took us 2 summers and hours of riding with my parents – Yaya and Papa – before The Architect finally felt comfortable enough to ask for the training wheels to come off. 

They were both learning to ride bikes.

They just did it in completely different ways.

One needed time to study the road, test the training wheels, learn the brakes.

The other trusted the wind, the excitement and the thrill of freedom. 

Neither way was wrong.

Parenting different children taught me that they just have their own way of cruising down the track, and they need to do it at their own speed.

And my job isn’t to make them ride the same way. 

It’s to stand nearby, cheering them on while they each find their balance. 

This is

3 Worlds, 1 Mom✨