"Wow, I didn't know that you had a mommy!"

My 3 year old cousin spoke those words in wonderment when I revealed to her that the woman sitting to her right - whom she's known for most of her short life - was indeed my mom.

Now let me give you a little bit of context, the whole conversation came about when one of her older twin brothers, who are 6 years old, asked me if my son has super-hero action figures at home. It went something like this:

Twin 1: Hey, does your son play with superman toys at home?

Me: Ummm, well, no. I don't have a son.

Twin 1: So, you don't even have a family?

He asked this question looking very concerned and a just tad bit sad and to be honest, I was looking at him the same way. Just like his little sister, he's known me and my family for most of his short, little life, too. We see each other a few times a week. Shouldn't he have figured all of this out by now?

Me: Yes, I have a family--

Twin 2: Of course she has a family. Duh.

Finally! I was beginning to think that maybe there was something that I didn't know. He then proceeded to name all the members of my family, but when he got to my mom he says, "but Ms. M, she's your grandma, right?"

Sigh. I guess the gray hair was a dead give away, huh? I'd finally set them straight when the 3 year old turned her attention away from 'Curious George' and said the bit about not knowing I had a mommy.

Kids. Thank goodness they're cute. Actually, it was all very funny. I remember when I was younger, I thought that there were little people inside of the television and that all of my teachers lived at school, so I don't have that much room to talk.

Don't worry it's like riding a bike! You never forget how.

I have little secret to confess. I never learned to ride a bike as a child and I cringe at that phrase every time I hear it. Storm clouds gather around my head as I mutter darkly to myself and my companion continues on blithely unfazed by my annoyance.

There are many childhood lessons that I missed out on in my youth. This was mostly due to the fact that I was a very reserved child but part of the blame lies with my dear ol' mom. You see, I am the 4th of 5 children. By the time I was ready to do the things my older siblings had done like take dance lessons or go away to summer camp, there was less money to go around and I had to rely on the kindness of other kids my age & hand-me-down (broken) toys/equipment. Poor, poor me.

Actually, I really did have a pretty decent childhood full of love and kindness and I don't regret that much of it. However, when people causally mention things that virtually every child/teen in the country has mastered, I start to feel little embarrassed. So, when I came upon this little beauty in a garage sale a few weeks ago, I had to have it.

Can't you just see me zooming down the bike trail or around the local park on this little beauty? Yeah, neither can I. That's why I'm going to find a nice abandoned parking lot somewhere and practice until I can ride without putting my feet down or urmmm, falling off and busting my booty. Then maybe I'll feel comfortable making the jump to a real bike.

And can I just say how much I adore youtube? I swear they have a video for everything these days....

Fortunately, my bike is a little bit bigger than hers, but it's good to know that there are other folks out there like me.

Once I master this feat, I can move on to others like learning to swim....and to drive.....