Moving forward...
Friday, September 5, 2008 at 01:14AM Once upon a time, we bought Noah a bike for his fifth birthday. The following spring, despite having ridden the bike some during the fall (complete with training wheels still), Noah decided he didn't want to learn to ride a bike and declared walking to be his preference. (This, we believe, was directly related to having fallen from the bike once or twice...never seriously. We didn't push it, though. And he's definitely seen all the neighborhood kids zooming around on their bikes so knows that it can be fun. Cautious as ever, though, he was adamant. We resigned ourselves to wait.)
Fast forward to this summer. Noah (now approaching his eighth birthday) still refused to even consider riding a bike. He continued to prefer walking/running while his younger brothers rode their trikes around the cul-de-saq. Asher, meanwhile, seemed content with his little Kettler trike (inherited after Noah had moved up to the bike almost three years ago). Neither boy wanted or fit that bike we'd bought Noah when he was five. We happily gave it to a friend.
Then, recently, I had a revelation. I sat Asher down to talk...I wanted to make sure he understood that even though Noah didn't want to learn to ride a bike there was no reason that he couldn't learn to ride a bike. Aha! Asher, once freed to contemplate doing something Noah hadn't already done, was genuinely interested in a bike. Noah continued in his insistence that walking was good.
This past Tuesday, then, we stopped at the new Toys R Us location near us (they'd just opened a new store) and figured we'd look at the bikes. To my surprise (and delight...hee hee), both Asher and Noah found bikes they wanted to try out and proceeded to ride around and around the bike section. (Micah took a liking to a cute little pink Radio Flyer trike that, um, we weren't interested in.) ;)
So, we left with those same two bikes. (I did make them try some others and had Nathan come to the store to inspect the bike choices and all...but the boys insisted that those initial two were the ones...and since the floor models had only been out for a few days, and since time is valuable, we went ahead and got the pre-assembled floor models.)
Since Tuesday, all the boys want to do when not at soccer practice or music class or otherwise occupied is ride their bikes:
Yes, the training wheels are likely to stay on for a good while, but at least they're riding! :) I'm so happy to see them, particularly Noah, venturing forth and enjoying the ride...finally. He's even fallen off a time or two and just gotten right back up! (Fortunately, btw, our cul-de-saq is a wonderfully quiet one with very attentive drivers.) Micah, incidentally, has been offered Asher's Kettler trike but insists that he likes his plastic "trike bike" better.
So. It's good. :) Now if I could only get them to stop fighting about who "wins" all the time...
Reader Comments (3)
How great is that?!?! Love the picture - and the story.
Will wonders never cease! Noah also told me last week that he didn't want to ride a bike. Knowing the level of competitiveness, maybe all it took was Asher wanting to ride one. Hmm.
Hehe - love how the story turned out Amanda! Natasha refused to ride her bike for a full year after, at age 7, she insisted we take her training wheels off at the beginning of summer. Sarah did the same thing this spring, so she won;t learn to ride until next summer at 8 1/2, because I don;t see her changing her mind anytime soon either, even now that Natasha zooms around the neighborhood. Love the picture btw - perfect!