From Training Wheels to Two Wheeling June 30, 2009

Look mom, no trainers

My kids have always had access to bikes, though I was never that good at getting the kids out on them to practice. My oldest daughter was riding a bike with training wheels last summer. She never really seemed all the comfortable riding. I attributed it to her lack of practice and comfort on the bike.

My hope is to get the kids out on their bikes more this year. There are certain things all kids should learn when growing up: how to swim, how to skate and how to ride a bike. When I was a kid, my bike was more than a way of getting around, it was a sense of freedom. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to get my daughter use to her bike so I can send her outside to ride around the neighbourhood on her own. I mean she’s only seven.

The new school enables us to walk and in the Spring my oldest actually scootered there. By the end of term I noticed her balance on the scooter had really improved.

That’s when the crazy idea hit me — time to take the training wheels off my daughter’s bike.

So one weekend the training wheels came off and my husband took my girl over to the school playground to practice. They were gone for over two hours. I tried to continue my work in the backyard but all I kept thinking about was how the riding was going. I arbitrarily made the decision to take the training wheels off, but I wasn’t the one who had to ride the bike. Was my daughter sitting in the school yard, kicking her bike and cursing my name? Or worse, sitting in the emergency room waiting for stitches (though I’m sure my husband would call if that was the case). Was I trying to push her into something she wasn’t ready for?

As I prepare my acceptance speech for The Worst Mother of the Year award,  my husband and daughter walked through the back gate. No stitches or casts or tears, just all smiles. Her first attempt on her two wheeler, success. And now there’s no stopping her.