During August 2013 (just after we’d moved into our house in New Jersey) we purchased Jade a bike. She really hadn’t had much experience on a bike as her life had primarily been lived in a large Asian city! We let her get accustom to training wheels for a couple months before winter hit. When the weather turned nice again, we pulled the bike back out. I asked around for tips and tricks on teaching a child to ride a bike. In August we took off the training wheels and gave it a go! Guess what?! She didn’t magically learn like I’d envisioned. You know, the whole perfect scenario of a parent letting go and the child riding off beautifully! Learning to ride was hard for both of us. I ran with her, trying to hold up the heavy bike as she tried to balance and figure out the pedals. She grew more and more frustrated and emotional, getting mad at me for “not holding on right,” etc. I thought she would never learn to ride a bike!
Enter: my neighbor, Mike. Mike lives across the street from us. From day one, he has been the friendly, kind, helpful, generous type of neighbor everyone likes to have. He likes to come outside and chit chat when he sees neighbors are out. I am probably out more than anyone because I still have young kids that need watching. He’d been out several times as I had been attempting to teach Jade to ride her bike. He gave me all sorts of tips, which I would try and wouldn’t work. What was wrong with us?!
Then one day Mike had a brilliant plan. You see, our street is mostly boys ages 8 to 11. I find it a little ironic seeing how Jade is as girly a girl as they come. I mean, the girl rarely wears anything but a skirt! It is good for Jade though. In fact, I think she feels pretty special when she gets to play with the big boys. So Mike decided to get his son, Nick, and the other neighbor boy, Jack, to run back and forth with Jade.
Wouldn’t you know, Jade perked right up and we heard no more complaining! The boys ran back and forth with her as Mike yelled out instructions to the boys. The boys may have been panting after awhile, but Jade was all smiles!
Nick and Jack were unbelievably sweet and patient as they ran along side Jade. After many times back and forth, Jade eventually started to catch on.
Jade improved as we continued to practice everyday. Even Daddy took the opportunity after work to run alongside Jade until she could fully ride on her own.
After lots of practice, Jade could ride completely on her own: getting on the bike, starting, braking, turning, stopping, getting off the bike… it took a little time, but she eventually had it all down and started riding like a champ!
It was a real thrill to see her finally cruising down the street completely on her own! After that, she was riding her bike daily, pedaling faster and faster. She even got to ride around with the boys once in awhile!
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