I am so proud of Adeline! Living here in Germany, everyone rides their bikes. Seeing that gas costs about $9 per gallon, I can see why a lot of them resort to their bikes for transportation. All the little kids ride their bikes too. If they are under 3, they are riding a running bike (balance bike) and 3 year olds and up (including some 2 year olds) are riding 2 wheelers. Adeline really wanted to ride her two wheeler without training wheels like all her German friends. We took her out one day a couple weeks ago and tried to get her to ride her bike without training wheels. We really didn't try very long because Adeline was getting pretty frustrated. She can touch the ground, but not with her feet flat and really sturdy. She also was having a hard time with the balance part. I probably on spent 10 minutes total with her. That night I bought a used running bike (balance bike) from another German mom in our town. I meant for it to be for Norah because my intent was to start her on it so she would never be handicapped by training wheels. It ended up being to big for Norah, but we put the seat and handles all the way up and Adeline jumped right on. For the past 2 weeks Adeline has been riding that bike to school everyday. She has gotten quite good on it and cruises around with her legs up all the time. Whoever says or thinks that you can not go fast on these bikes is wrong. We also took her pedals off her big bike and I had her ride that yesterday for a couple minutes just to show her that even though it is a lot bigger than her running bike, it is the same except that she can start pedaling when the pedals are on. Today Adeline said, "I want to put my pedals on my big bike and ride like you!" So, we put her pedals back on and she practically took off without a problem. She can control it incredibly well and doesn't need any help. What a big girl! Last week I got another running bike that fits Norah right now. She only walks with it and isn't super fond of it now, but I'm sure that she will start picking it up this summer. I for sure am never handicapping my kids with training wheels again. The Germans have the concept down right!!
This is the very first time today that she got on her bike to try and ride it.... try and plug your ears so you don't hear my annoying voice
and back down the street....
2 comments:
Yahoo!!! I knew you could do it Adeline!
Way to go Adeline! So cute. I can tell you are so proud too. I would be. Way to be persistent. Allie's school had a bike rodeo a couple months ago. I didn't let her take her bike because I thought she might be the only one with training wheels and so I didn't want her to feel like she wasn't good enough. She's very sensitive you know. Anyway, she said almost every other kindergartner had training wheels. Crazy how different the cultures are! I think it's great though.....and love the idea of training with no pedals. We're going to have to try that!
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