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She did it!

MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
Emily finally rode without training wheels for the first time (while pedaling)

This has been a hard fought battle. But I think I can almost credit that video of the little kid on the push bike in the skate park from a couple of weeks back.

We have a "spare" little bike. It's been without training wheels and pedals for a long time....to be used as a push bike to practice balance. Neither girl had ANY interest.

So Emily watched that video a few times, and it piqued her interest. We have a fairly slopey driveway, so she's been successfully coasting down the hill for a couple of weeks now. But always with her legs extended.

Yesterday I convinced her to try putting her feet on the crank arms. She did. No problem. Today I said that I could put the pedals back on so she could rest her feet on them. She said ok. So she tried, and then started pedaling on her own. She didn't go too far, but she was doing it for real.

And I know this is not THAT big of a deal for most kids. But there's a lot behind all of this. So it's a big deal for her. She's just beaming. There's more work to be done....like on her "real" bike. But right now I couldn't be more proud....
 
Mr Jones

Mr Jones

Turbo Monkey
Nov 12, 2007
1,475
0
Good stuff bro! This is gonna make those 12 days just that much harder to get through.
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
42,483
14,577
Portland, OR
Nice work!

Maddie had a tough time with balance until I got the Wii Fit. After a week playing the balance games, she got on her bike and rode up and down the street like it was nothing.

Kids are crazy.
 
Skookum

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
i wonder if i were to copy this thread, alter the names and dates. Go back into a time machine and re-submit this thread 10 years ago, i wonder how Mmike would have responded to a thread like this.

Not being on RM much, falling into this mundane drivel is a bit like walking into Bizarro world. So i see this hairybacked Canadian has won over the hearts of so many of you shamelessly using the exploits of his offspring eh?

Very sly of you, but you don't have me fooled. Not for one second.:monkey:
 
MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
Thank you all....except Skookum. Go grow a super manly pony-tail.

Mundane drivel? Are you new?

(You're right....I invented the whole thing just for the rep. I actually don't even have kids. You FOOLS! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)
 
MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
Hmmmm.....

An interesting turn of events...

So Emily (6-1/2).....today her little sister Grace (4-1/2) just rode with no training wheels for the first time. And truth be told, she ca ndo it way better than her big sister.

So Emily was then highly motivated. However, She has not yet screwed up the nerve to do it on her real bike. She's only been doing it on bikes way too little for her.....that are, as a result REALLY hard for her to pedal. Grace is doing it on a bike that fits her. So she just motors right along without looking back.

This REALLY pissed emily off and so we're going to have to call this a bit of a set-back.

Definitely one of them "good news/bad news" situations.....

Way to go Gracie?

 
bizutch

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,929
24
Over your shoulder whispering
I have the opposite and it literally happened yesterday. Our drive is gravel and sloped and our 4 1/2 yr old has been practicing no footing on a 12". Took her to the park yesterday and she no footed a good 50 yards down a gradual slope sidewalk.

Took her back up and got further 3 times in a row. Put the pedals on and she rode it like it was nothing. But the only reason she did it was b/c I told her she had to at least try to ride before she could go goof on the playground.

She did what she had to do to get by. She did what 8 year olds in the park couldn't imagine doing, but could care less about how awesome what she just did was.

My 6 1/2 year old refuses to quit any task and at 5 rode the 17 mile length of the Virginia Creeper trail on a 16" Barbie bike 3 weeks after learning to ride without training wheels training wheels and tried to keep people from passing her.
 
MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
So since my last post the no training wheels thing has been a non-starter. No interest. Until tonight. I think we may finally be there. She eve said that the training wheels fairy (which is real!!) can come take hers away. Shes never said that before.

Fingers are crossed but we may have gotten it.
 
bizutch

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,929
24
Over your shoulder whispering
MMike said:
So since my last post the no training wheels thing has been a non-starter. No interest. Until tonight. I think we may finally be there. She eve said that the training wheels fairy (which is real!!) can come take hers away. Shes never said that before.

Fingers are crossed but we may have gotten it.
Click to expand...
Man up and lay down the law there limp wrist. Training wheels to the scrap bin and your man card with it.


Update on our end. Found a darn near new Trek 20" Mystic for the 7 year old and she loves it. The 5 year old ditched the 12" and is now on the 16".

Took them to the Dupont Forest kids trail for the first time and the little one had trouble getting around a root or two and navigating the tiny downhill turns with a coaster brake on the first lap. They both even rode the teeter totter (until the older almost aired it and got scared).

Two laps in and she busted out the whole loop. If your trail system doesn't have a kids loop like Dupont (with skills area in the center), get your local crew on it.

Truly awesome. (sorry for hijacking the thread MMike).

 
bizutch

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,929
24
Over your shoulder whispering
MMike said:
Have a lot of experience with autistic kids, do you?
Click to expand...
Since when did you lose your sense of humor?

Interesting side note. My close friends daughter (6yr old) and his 8 year are opposites when it comes to the bikes. The 8 yr old is terrified and his 6 year old is fearless. She's autistic and apparently quite the daredeviless.

Please ease your mind and know that I'm actually a caring parent who's not shooting spite at you.

I can only assume that your little lady is being herself and regardless of her level of autism, her choice in how she rolls is her personal preference and personality.


That...or it's her way of driving you nuts and staying in control of a situation.;)
 
TreeSaw

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,799
2,108
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
bizutch said:
Man up and lay down the law there limp wrist. Training wheels to the scrap bin and your man card with it.


Update on our end. Found a darn near new Trek 20" Mystic for the 7 year old and she loves it. The 5 year old ditched the 12" and is now on the 16".

Took them to the Dupont Forest kids trail for the first time and the little one had trouble getting around a root or two and navigating the tiny downhill turns with a coaster brake on the first lap. They both even rode the teeter totter (until the older almost aired it and got scared).

Two laps in and she busted out the whole loop. If your trail system doesn't have a kids loop like Dupont (with skills area in the center), get your local crew on it.

Truly awesome. (sorry for hijacking the thread MMike).

Click to expand...
AWESOME!!!! I'm going to have to check out some more details on that trail system and see if we can get something local going on too!
 
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