Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Riding a bike or the lack there of!!!!

Ok, so I am just wanting to know if there are other mother's out there with this problem or if it is a family trait? Now, I know from this picture that it looks as if my daughter can ride a bike right. WRONG!!!! For over a year not I have been trying desperatly to teach her how to peddle a bike and for some reason she just can't do it. I feel horrible because I will take her out to "ride" her bike and I end up so frusterated because she will push herself along with her feet and tell me "Look Mom I am doing it!!!" And she isn't!!!!! I have tried everything I can think of to teach her but to know avail. What am I doing wrong? What am I not understanding? Why is it that my daughter could count to 20 before she was 2 but she can't figure some of the easiest things out like peddling a bike and blowing her nose. I laugh because it is just so funny to me. She is so smart but I have a hard time teaching her certain things and I don't know if it is just me or if it is normal. So please tell me am I the only one here?


She really loves her Elmo bike and it brightens up her day so much when we take it outside for her to "ride".
This is how she really rides her bike!!!! It is so funny.

Juliana I love you!!!!!

4 comments:

Natalie said...

Just keep at it! You are not alone. Derek couldn't peddle until just last summer. We never bought him a trike, so he went straight to a training wheel bike. They all develop at a different pace. But I am like you...I worry about every milestone and wonder "what is wrong with my child!"

By the way, I am super excited about your blog. I will absolutely check it everyday...I mean that!

Erika said...

Nat- My 3 year old can't peddle either. We have a trike for her and she'd rather push it. We haven't tried very hard with her, but I figure she'll get it at some point. She is easily discouraged and just prefers to have things done for her. It's probably just a personality thing. Good luck!

Unknown said...

LOL. I had to laugh. Moira is the same way. Can't/won't blow her nose. Can't peddle a bike. Could speak and count and memorize songs early on. I always wonder if she's going to be one of those book-smart kids that has absolutely no athletic ability whatsoever. hahaha!

Grog said...

Love yer blog, Nat'lie!

And on peddling...

Ethan, 16 in August, coordinated and with great natural endurance, militantly resisted any peddling of his trike or big wheel. It was only when younger bro Christian starting teaching himself to ride a bike at 5 that he finally broke down and started riding a two-wheeler. Ethan has run over five miles with me, hiked over twenty with me in one day (along with Christian), and competed in track. I've never understood why he wouldn't pedal!

Isaac, 4 in July, is a different story. He has been riding his bike with training wheels for almost a year, and pedals so fast now he can keep up with me on a slow jog. (He also saw me doing push-ups and has now started doing them himself with impressive, virstually straight spined, almost-Air Force Academy form. Eli, 2, tries the push-ups to be like big bro and it is truly hilarious.)

All we can do is expose our kids to all kinds of opportunities: physical, musical, intellectual, and of course spiritual. But it is ultimately their call on what they will do with it! Keep trying to encourage but don't get bummed or impatient. (Kids pick up on it and feed off of it--I think they're silently laughing inside that they got the best of you!)