He's been playing with our neighbor a lot lately who is a year older and who zips all over the place on his two-wheeler and I could tell Ben was kind of wanting to keep up. He hesitated, but then I suggested maybe, since Simon was tall enough for BEN'S bike now, that we try taking the training wheels off the smaller bike and maybe he'd feel a little safer.
This line of thinking seemed to click with him.
"Okay!" he replied, enthusiastically.
In 30 seconds, Tom had the training wheels off of the smaller bike. He held Ben's shoulders and the bike seat two or three times as Ben pedaled back and forth across the driveway. Tom stopped to help Simon with the other bike and the next thing we knew, Ben was off...
Guess when they're ready, they're ready! (reminds me so much of potty training... and is another reminder to me of the "when they're ready for something, it's easy and quick and painless" mantra I need to keep in my head in the coming years with Jonathan)
Not sure what to do about the bike size situation now. Simon doesn't want to go back to the smaller bike. But I'm hoping to convince him to want to try two-wheels too on the smaller bike so Ben can get back on his slightly taller and more age appropriate bike. LOL. We'll see how that goes. ;) I think he has a little more natural coordination than Ben, plus there is the motivation to keep up with his big brother, so I think if he really wanted to, he could definitely do it. (but again, if he's not ready, he's not ready.... which means we have a bike conundrum... new bike may end up having to be his Christmas present)
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We do follow that mantra but not without getting grief from others (MIL, etc). It was the same with swimming. My kids were petrified to go into a pool. I kept exposing and exposing. Of course, all the while while hearing, "You should put them in swimming lessons. You should force them. They can't pick everything they like and want to do." Meanwhile, they (on their own) are terrific swimmers now.
As parents, we automatically (instinctually??)feel environmental pressures to keep up and to move at other people's paces - but it's just not always going to work. I don't know the other kid (obviously) but I am sure if he was not as good of a reader as Ben is, he couldn't magically do it just because his parents bought him a chapter book. Anyway - I am glad you did what you did!!! Look at him grinning! He is so proud!
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