Thursday, June 09, 2011

As easy as riding a bike

Tyler has been teaching Anna to ride her bike. We've had this particular bike for some time, but never made the effort to get out and teach her. One day Tyler said that she couldn't continue playing/watching/reading Pokemon until she mastered riding around the block on her bike without stopping. Days went by. There was weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. "I can't do it," "It's too hard," "I saw a bee so I ran inside," "Can I just ride back and forth to our neighbor's driveway several times and have that count??" Yes, my daughter has tried many tricks to get out of doing it. I tried to encourage her, as did Tyler, but she was determined to FAIL. This was so hard to see, as her parents. She wouldn't try to succeed - she would put the least amount of effort into it and then when that didn't work, she would say something like, "See! I told you I can't do this!!!" You see what I mean, right?

Today I encouraged her to try to make it around the block, instead of just riding to a few houses down and back. Something just clicked for her and she made it around the block twice! She came inside just beaming and called Tyler at work to tell him the good news. He came home and, sure enough, she rode her bike around the block perfectly! Success! She immediately got on the computer to watch some Pokemon episodes. She's excited about what she accomplished and so are we.

The twins are skilled on their bicycles and now Anna can ride hers. I am looking to purchase one for myself, but I need something more sturdy because of my weight. Have you seen these adult tricycles?


That's one sweet ride, eh? And I think the stylish outfit comes with it, too.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I am thinking maybe some of her reluctanbce was leftover not feeling safe with her vision issues? I hope that the surgery was successful in eliminating them all!

Sarah C said...

I am proud of Anna. It is hard to keep trying when you feel like you will fail at something. I guess we can all learn from her. Even when we get discouraged, if we keep trying, we can succeed. Good job Anna!

I think the adult tricycle is a great idea for you. Family bike rides are really fun.