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: two wheels better
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Yesterday, Sarah wanted to ride on her bike. She asked me yet again why the training wheels were bent so much. "Because the metal is weak," I said. "It's not strong any more, and some time it's going to break off." So she decided I should take them off, which I did, and then she wanted more parental instruction on the art of riding on two wheels.
I opened the gate to the back so we'd have the driveway to launch in. First I had her practice putting her feet down and stopping. She took two runs of that, then the pedal hit the back of one of her ankles (I'd tried to suggest that flip flops weren't best for this), and we had to go in and look at it and put on a band-aid, and then she put on shoes and socks and we went out for another go. This time she showed off for Cathy, taking long runs down the driveway, then into the yard where the soft, sandy ground helped slow things down.
A bit later, she wanted one more time at it, but it developed (in bits and pieces -- why bother telling Dad too much at one time?) that she wanted to go to Danielle and Autumn's house and ride down their sloping driveway. I called my sister while this was going on, and she got a free show of listening to Sarah direct my life ("Don't stand THERE!"). Then we headed home, and she fell off the bike again (twice on the way over, maybe two times on the way back), this time calamitously enough that she was a bit upset.
All in all, it was a day of real progress. She's going to get it soon, just like when she learned to 'pump' on the swings. She celebrated her success by getting the Big Wheel out of the shed and charging off down the sidewalk. I'm going to miss sidewalks -- doesn't look like the places we're looking at have them. Shades of Virginia!
.
.
Yesterday, Sarah wanted to ride on her bike. She asked me yet again why the training wheels were bent so much. "Because the metal is weak," I said. "It's not strong any more, and some time it's going to break off." So she decided I should take them off, which I did, and then she wanted more parental instruction on the art of riding on two wheels.
I opened the gate to the back so we'd have the driveway to launch in. First I had her practice putting her feet down and stopping. She took two runs of that, then the pedal hit the back of one of her ankles (I'd tried to suggest that flip flops weren't best for this), and we had to go in and look at it and put on a band-aid, and then she put on shoes and socks and we went out for another go. This time she showed off for Cathy, taking long runs down the driveway, then into the yard where the soft, sandy ground helped slow things down.
A bit later, she wanted one more time at it, but it developed (in bits and pieces -- why bother telling Dad too much at one time?) that she wanted to go to Danielle and Autumn's house and ride down their sloping driveway. I called my sister while this was going on, and she got a free show of listening to Sarah direct my life ("Don't stand THERE!"). Then we headed home, and she fell off the bike again (twice on the way over, maybe two times on the way back), this time calamitously enough that she was a bit upset.
All in all, it was a day of real progress. She's going to get it soon, just like when she learned to 'pump' on the swings. She celebrated her success by getting the Big Wheel out of the shed and charging off down the sidewalk. I'm going to miss sidewalks -- doesn't look like the places we're looking at have them. Shades of Virginia!
.