#58 - Teach Ben to ride his two-wheeled bike...check!

I had mommy guilt over this task.  I don't know when it's "normal" for kids to learn to ride their bikes sans training wheels, but it seems like it might be sooner than age 6.  Ben spent most of last summer riding around on his scooter anyway, not doing much bike riding.  I took the training wheels off towards the end of fall with the intention of teaching him how to ride, but I had a tough time figuring out the logistics of it.  And I always seemed to do it when he was tired, I was home alone with him and the girls, or some other equally inopportune time.

This weekend, after what has been an unusually cold winter, we experienced a February reprieve.  It was in the upper 60's, sunny, and perfect for learning to ride a bike.

Ben put on his too-small helmet, mounted his two-wheeled bike, and he and Sam headed for the road as I followed closely with the camera.  (So, technically, I didn't teach Ben to ride his bike, but this is what I had in mind with the task so it counts.)  I think it took Ben all of 30 seconds to learn how to balance.  He mastered turning in the next 5 minutes.  Braking followed shortly thereafter.  In the next 30 minutes, he was trekking all over the neighborhood at greater speeds than I would have preferred (being the helicopter parent that I am).

 

 

 

Some say that potty training goes easier when you wait until they're ready and don't push it.  I don't know if that's true, but I'm using that argument for Ben's bike riding.  

So there it is.  Ben is riding a bike.  *sniffle*  Now, we can teach Abby how to ride his old bike.  The cycle continues...

The next Ben-related task is to get out the baseball gloves and play some good games of catch.  After all, tee-ball starts in just a couple of weeks!