Riding a bicycle

[katsmom]

I'm an over protective mother to say the least. Katherine has been after us to take the training wheels off her bike for about two years and I wouldn't have it. Her dad did it last night without telling me-it was their secret. Tonight I got a call to come downstairs...panic filled my heart. But guess what? SHE'S RIDING WITHOUT HELP!

That little monkey learned to balance and go around corners and all those other things that go with bike riding in one night. Her dad told her if she didn't learn quickly that mean old mom would discover the missing wheels and make her put them back on. How's that for incentive!

[Scurra]

Fantastic!

[katsmom]

We got past that hurdle, the next one is driving a car. Thank heavens that is at least 10 years away. I'll need valium for that one because dad is a lousy driver!

The only man I know who drives a stick at 80 MPH in 1st gear because he doesn't know how to use a clutch

[Scurra]

Well, speaking as the only person I have ever met who has managed to write off a Volvo Estate (yes, really!) then I can't really comment on other people's driving ability... But that fact has earned me respect in some unexpected places

[katsmom]

Well, speaking as the only person I have ever met who has managed to write off a Volvo Estate (yes, really!) then I can't really comment on other people's driving ability... But that fact has earned me respect in some unexpected places

I thought Volvo's were safe from everyone but a tank! I can't even think of how you would have managed that one.

[strep98]

Well Done, speaking as a person who can only ride a bike in the kitchen on a trainer (so I don't even move an inch) I admire her. She will be doing stunts, like my daughter next.

[MBH]

Great news Now that she's got those training wheels off the PuzzleBrains forum have got together and organized an instructer for her to keep her safe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4P3yp6mFfY

NO!!! You can NOT put he trainers back on


As for the driving, I've just had a few problems putting my 30-foot long bus backwards between a too-narrow gateway while holding up traffic going both ways on a main (village) street...... No pressure


Actually katsmom - don't worry about the driving yet - I'm not sure how old she is but I think we've got a boyfriend lined up for her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwsnk1pd ... re=related

[gill216]

Can I borrow those training wheels please? I've been off my new bicycle twice. I have now made it safely to the shops and back so progress is slow but steady.

My nightmare was my son learning to swim. He was 4, we lived in Spain and his armbands burst. I was about to head off and buy replacements when twin boys (aged about 13) who had befriended him told me not to bother. They would teach him to swim right now. These boys were nice boys and there was a lifeguard present. I had a quiet word with the lifeguard and very reluctantly left them to it. I dont think I could have watched what they may have been about to do and I went to buy the new armbands.

20 minutes later there was my 4 year old swimming up and down totally unaided and totally without fear. I hope those boys went on to be swimming instructors.

[giraffe]

When Lally learned to swim she had a real confidence problem. She could swim perfectly well, but wouldn't take the armbands off. The instructor had let all the air out of them, but she insisted on wearing them. Then they moved her up a group and she had hysterics. They were expecting her to swim widths out of her depth, so they put a rope across the pool for her to grab if she felt she was drowning. Needless to say she didn't need to grab the rope and they gradually managed to move her a few inches at a time away from the rope. She was also weird about goggles, wouldn't wear them, but wouldn't swim without them. She used to leave them on the side of the pool, so she could get them if she wanted them.

They don't have bicycles though. There's nowhere for them to go without going out onto the main road, which has a 60 mph speed limit, so everyone does about 80!

[Wulfruna]

Well, speaking as the only person I have ever met who has managed to write off a Volvo Estate

....er yes, I can confirm that, as I was in it at the time - though not as bad as it sounds as it was pretty elderly! It did, however, manage to put him off driving for life.....

[Looby]

MBH you're wicked - in the old-fashioned sense of the word!

I did notice on the first clip at 0.27 it looked as if he'd never be a father! but the bit at 3.55 where he's jumping the gate with spikes was horrid.
(When my son was about 8 we were staying at a gite in France and he fell out of a tree on to a spiked fence. How he got away with making holes in his coat, t-shirt and trousers without making a hole in himself I'll never know - just huge bruises)

With my 'mummy' hat on if it was my son in the second clip he'd have been wearing elbow protectors.

[Bunnylump]

My boy went to nursery school (obviously a very long time ago) unable (or so I thought) to ride a bike without stabilisers. The nursery teacher let all the kids ride around the outside area on trikes, bikes with stabilisers and scooters, but they were all too small for my boy (who was and still is humungously tall). So she asked him if he could ride a bigger bike without stabilisers she borrowed from the year 2 class. He said yes.

So when I picked him up from school I found him happily hurtling around without stabilisers!! None of that running behind him in the park holding on to the saddle for about a year like I had with my daughter!! SOOO much easier!!

My mad brother in law organised a party for my neice which involved a load of kids learning to operate digger trucks (the big, real ones) to shift great heaps of sand about. That was when they were about 8!! My son thought it was brilliant! I just tried really hard not to think about it!

[maisie ladybird]

Last year my son, who's 10, was invited to a friends birthday treat to go raft building at the outdoor pursuits centre in Leicester which I was quite nervous about. He can swim, but it doesn't stop me worrying when he gets together with his mates they can be quite daft. Well anyway, I heard them talking the other week about birthdays and what this particular friend of his was doing this year - air rifle shooting - eek, I'm not too sure about that!

[giraffe]

One Of F's friends invited some of the boys over for his birthday, and then they went out to Burger King. When they got back the house had been burgled. It made the party for the boys!

The following year another of the boys invited them for a day out. They set off in two cars, the lead car had tyre explode, hit the verge, veered across the lane, took off through a hedge and rolled three times, finishing on its roof! No-one was hurt fortunately. (The only bruise on F was where he had released his seatbelt afterwards, and landed on his back in the field)

Then last year we had a swimming party for the three of them. Halfway through they turned on the wave machine and the lifeguard thought one of Lally's friends was drowning and dived in to fish her out. The boys thought it was great, with the sirens blaring, and the lifeguard dripping fully clothed.

Puts you off having parties! Air rifles? No thanks.

[LAT]

Golly, I should think it might put you off birthday parties.

One year we decided to take the kids on a trek cum hunt across the firing ranges near our house. Only two real problems with that. The grass was rather longer than we had expected and one of the boys had been very premature at birth and was tiny, we were extremely worried we would lose him in the grass as in general it came up to his ears. The other problem is that my OH has no sense of direction. He was leading the way and I was bringing up the rear making sure we didn't lose any. When I realised we had passed the same spot twice I did start to wonder if he knew where we were going. Eventually we saw someone walking a dog who was able to point out the direction to aim back in and we just about managed to get home and start to feed them before parents arrived to collect. The boys all thought it was great and the cost was minimal

[strep98]

Ellie was dropped in the swimming pool by a friends daughter at 6 weeks old and swam around quite happily while I nearly drowned in the shallow end trying to rescue her. I must be the only fish who hates water.

[BassBloke]

The best bike training gadgets I have ever come accross were spring loaded stabiliser wheels. We bought them from our local Halfords, I think. They had enough support to keep the bike generally upright in a straight line but allowed a controlled amount of lean to get round corners. They could be incrementally raised to increase the "unconrolled" lean angle but always cut in when a small boy / tarmac interface issue was about to arise. Result being, going from 2 small boys not able to ride bikes at all, to riding without stabilisers (mostly successfully) in about a couple of weeks. Highly reccomended.

AND

I've just remembered how I learned to drive a car. My mum had a cracking little orange Mini and when I was 15/16 she used to take me to a local stock car grass track (when it wasn't in use - obviously) and let me loose. She must have been completely barking mad. But, I had really got the hang of how a car worked before I ever went near a road. How that little car survived I will never know. I just can't imagine doing the same today with my kids. A Mini is one thing, a Grand Voyager is another kettle of worms altogether I think.

Cheers. BB.

[Looby]

I also learnt to drive before I was 17 in a local stately home park in an Austin A30.

I've just looked up the details - 0 to 50 in 29secs!!!

[LAT]

My two learnt to ride their bikes without stabilisers at a summer holiday club at their school. Their young maths/games teacher not only took the stabilisers off for me, he also did the back-breaking bit of running along with them while they gained confidence. It was so well worth the hassle of getting the bikes in the car to take them there

[Bunnylump]

I learned to drive in one of these

and one of these