A couple of months ago I was reading Dennis Bullock‘s blog and saw where he was so happy that all of his children had mastered the bicycle and no longer needed training wheels. While happy for him I was wondering when any of mine would get the hang of it. My four year old was out in force w/ her training wheels all the time. But didn’t seem to really want to take them off.
Then towards the beginning of May she started telling me she was ready to take them off. I really didn’t think she was, but I humored her. But I could tell she was really trying to ride w/o the training wheels touching. So I took them off and she couldn’t go anywhere on her own. So I’d have to lean WAY over and hold her handlebars while I hobbled down the street with her to the stop sign and then back to the house. About two laps of this was all I could make. My back was killing me. ?
And then I figured out what the catalyst was to all this. Some of the girls in her school were asking everyone if they still used training wheels or not to ride their bike. So Addie felt the peer pressure to be able to ride without them.
So we made the trek to the stop sign and back a few times a day. And then one day she coasted down the sloped driveway w/o any help. So I told her to go to the street and pedal. And she did. And the rest is history! She was so proud that she was ONLY four and the girls who were bragging were already five. Funny little minds, these kids have. ?
She’s five now and I think we’re ready to step up to a bigger bike.
Excellent News! It doesnt take them very long after they get the balance. Look out world and make sure she wears that helmet!
Yeah. We’ve not been using that helmet yet. We have one that I think is now too small. But right now she hits the streets w/o one. I guess we’re bad parents. I guess I think back to myself NEVER even owning one, much less wearing one.
My 5 year old wanted to try and he did quite well only he tends to coast too much which slows ya down then comes the lack of balance…he loves to ride really fast so he asked me to put them back on..i figured, why not so i did…hes 5 and a 1/2 still has the wheels, another month or two i’ll takem off. now my older one was a freak about his wheels…so cautious…he is the type that will sit down and watch the doppler radar to make sure there are no storms coming our way(gets that from his mother!) anyway he was everybit of 6 before i could get his t.wheels off but once i did it was nice because he was so old that no way was he going to crash or have balance trouble. i held onto his seat for the first few seconds and he rode away from me and he hasnt crashed once, and he’s 9. so i say this is something you shouldnt sweat cause the older they are when the wheels come off the less crashin’ they’ll be in their future…so what if the neighbors laugh, as long as we got them out of diapers quick, never gave them pacifiers and they stopped nursing early too…whoo cares. nothing like seeing these kids asking their moms to nurse them when they are almost old enough to just go out and buy the milk!