Over the summer, whilst I was off on maternity leave, I decided to make it my mission to teach my son Lucas to ride a bike. He was six and a half and we'd tried before but he just couldn't master the balancing with the pedalling. His brother Tyler, who's four and a half, is a little better at pedalling, but we hadn't taken his stabilisers off.
I decided to concentrate on Lucas and tried holding onto he seat at the back and letting him go, but I was getting nowhere. Not forgetting I had a baby to keep an eye on too.
I was then given a balance bike, which was the best thing ever. I had looked at these in the past and thought they seemed a bit pointless as they'd still have to learn to pedal. I was so wrong. It's good to teach them to be able to balance and go. Once this is mastered the pedalling part is easy. They are designed for two to five year olds. They are made to fit little bodies perfectly.
Lucas has a friend at school whose three-year-old brother is awesome on his balance bike. He zooms about all over the place. Once I saw this, I knew a balance bike was the way to go.
However, at six and a half he is a little on the old side for it. I'd say the best age to begin with is two. I did let him have a go on it. It helped tremendously and after a day on this he could balance and free wheel a along with his feet up, no bother.
The next day, I tried him on his bike without stabilisers and I'm not kidding after five minutes he was off and there was no stopping him. I was stunned, so proud and amazed. What a proud moment seeing your son ride his bike and love it.
Tyler idolises his big brother and wanted to do the same thing and go on his bike without stabilisers. After using the balance bike without any issues, he progressed onto his bike without any stabilisers and off he went. I could not have hoped for a better few days.
I had not two children riding their bikes without stabilisers and they were both pleased as punch.
I really can't praise the balance bike enough, my only regret is I didn't get it sooner. Both boys loved riding on it and had a lot of fun.
I'm a working mother of two Princes' and a little Princess, blogging about our own little fairytale.
Blogs at: Susan K Mann
Twitter: @susankmann