Slackers for Parents

If you had asked us a week ago how many kids could ride a bike in our house the answer would have been one out of four.  Several years ago Little Lady had a panic attack when Joel was trying to help her learn to ride, and it didn't go well.  The bike was slightly too big, and she's afraid of heights, so it made the situation worse.  After several attempts we gave up, and BB quickly grew larger than his training bike that we never replaced.  A friend suggested a balance bike.  It helped all of her boys learn to ride a bike easily.  We bought a balance bike last Summer, and all the kiddos loved it from the start.  BB in particular enjoyed it, but really got around to deal with actual bikes. 

Joel and I had a conversation the other day about how he had really slacked on this particular thing.  Little Lady is 10 - she's needs to be able to ride a bike.  Since she and BB could both balance easily on the balance bike we knew they could ride a bike if they would try.  BB was up and running quickly with Little Man's old bike.  He absolutely LOVES it!  Little Lady took more persuading, but Joel finally got her up on Little Man's bike.  Wouldn't you know - she pretty much had it on her first try.  She admits she really enjoys it and is glad Dad pushed her to do it.  Now we just need to get her a bike of her own. 

Little Guy is thrilled with his training wheels for now, but I have a feeling it won't be long before he's off and running on a bike as well.