Faith learned how to ride a 2-wheeler! I honestly thought that this day may never come. At least not for years. Doing brave, scary things is not Faith's forte. Nor does she respond well to pressure or coaxing. That is a lot of what drove me as a kid, so I have really not parented her well in this department and I have made some big mistakes. Slowly I am learning that not all of us are geared the same way.
So this summer I've decided that she's going to get no pressure from me. I'll give her a lot of support, but no pressure. And it payed of big with the bike in just 3 short days of riding. A few days ago we spotted a pink Strider-like bike and asked her if she wanted it. She said yes, and promised that we she would ride it. The next two days we rode bikes to Riverwoods for lunch. I gently gave her a few pointers and overloaded her with praise. Inside was so frustrated at first because she was doing it all wrong, and I so wanted to start the "It would be so much easier if..." and the "You have to try it this way..." or "You have to be brave and just do it!" (aren't I awful? but it's true I've done that a lot) It was a rough start. Wyatt was riding circles and laps around her. But lo and behold she got better and better. And she was having fun, and wasn't scared.
Then tonight she said she wanted to try her peddle bike without the training wheels! What??? And she picked up on it pretty good in a matter of minutes. You can see the beginnings in the video. So lessoned learned--hopefully. This 5 year-old needs to swim! Maybe, no, for sure I should use the same tactic. She'll figure it out when she's ready.
Great job Princess Pie! Your mom is so proud of you!
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