I used to run beside you With my hand upon the seat Scared that every little stumble Would leave you at my feet I cleared the rocks before you Caught you every time you’d fall But somewhere in protecting you I wasn’t helping you at all You kept looking back to find me Every time the road got rough Then I learned that loving deeply Sometimes means loving tough So I took the training wheels off Even though you weren’t ready Even though my hands were shaking I had to let you ride unsteady You might fall, you might get bruised You might blame me when you do But I’d rather watch you learn to stand Than spend my life carrying you I didn’t stop loving you I just stopped doing it for you Yeah, I took the training wheels off I won’t make another excuse For the choices that you make I won’t build another bridge Over every consequence you face I can listen, I can love you I can meet you where you are But I can’t keep removing every lesson Just because the lesson’s hard You may call it walking away When I finally let you choose But sometimes saving someone Means letting them learn what they can lose So I took the training wheels off Even though you weren’t ready Even though my hands were shaking I had to let you ride unsteady You might fall, you might get bruised You might blame me when you do But I’d rather watch you learn to stand Than spend my life carrying you I didn’t stop loving you I just stopped doing it for you Yeah, I took the training wheels off I’ll still be here When the pavement meets your knees I’ll still be here But I won’t pedal underneath your feet I’ll wipe the blood But I won’t curse the road I’ll remind you who you are But you have to carry your own load Because love isn’t always rescue Love isn’t always “yes” Sometimes love steps backward And lets you take the test Go ahead… Wobble. Go ahead… Fall. Find out you’re stronger Than you thought you were at all Get back up Grab those handlebars Look ahead You’ve already come this far I TOOK THE TRAINING WHEELS OFF ’CAUSE I KNOW WHAT YOU CAN BE I refuse to let my fear for you Become what keeps you weak You might fall, you might get bruised But you’ll discover something new— The strength you kept reaching for in me Was already growing inside of you And when you finally ride away I’ll probably cry and wave Because the hardest kind of love Is raising someone brave I didn’t stop loving you I believed in what you could do So I took the training wheels off I took the training wheels off And I watched you wobble… Watched you fall… Watched you rise… Then one day I looked up— And you were flying.
