Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Remember when..

I wrote a bit about (gently) pushing my step son to really challenge himself and face up to some of his fears of the water? If not you can read more about it HERE. I am happy to report that C is now an amazing swimmer and in love with the water. He prefers a pool over the ocean or lake and its an absolute necessity for him to have a pair of goggles BUT we have to drag the kid out. I could not be happier for him.


 He loves jumping in!

 Making waves...

 uhhh what?

He is also very afraid of riding his bike and we have been trying to coerce him into letting us teach him. My husband had him doing little bike riding lessons a few years ago and he was really not into it. It became a battle and he let it go but now C is getting older and really should know how to ride a bike. We are trying to work out a strategy to get him excited about it. So far, he doesn't want anything to do with it.

Having seen the result of his swim lessons that he originally hated but grew to love I wish there was some kind of bike riding class. lol. Any suggestions? 

I have another question...have you ever pushed your child to do something? If so, what were the results?


Also, C is wearing the BEST boys swim suit from American Apparel. Stock up on them! They rule.

4 comments:

  1. Sebastian has had the SAME two fears. Water & his bike. We slowly but surely got him comfortable with the water and with arm floaties the kid is a fish BUT he will NOT go under water or jump in. I tried getting him to jump in shallow water at the local town beach and he did it (because I told him he was mario in mario cart and had to jump in to finish the race haha) but as for the bike situation he just started riding his bike last year (with training wheels) and shows great fear in taking them off so we're just gonna wait until he shows an interest. My opinion on "pushing" your kids is let them try whatever they want, introduce them to new things but never force them, foster what they seem to love, their passions but never make them do something they don't seem happy with. We had Sebastian try soccer, kid HATED it, I told him to try 2 more "practices" and if he still didn't like it then he did not have to continue, I'm not one to make their child "finish out the season" or whatever it is he may be doing if he is not enjoying himself. GOOD LUCK!!!

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  2. This is going to sound stupid, but maybe you could bring him to a skatepark/bike park and let him see older guys riding. It might bring out an interest.
    In my opinion, exposing your child to something, and encouraging them to try it is different than pushing them. (Swimming being a totally separate issue, because it is a safety necessity to learn). I think if you expose him, encourage him to give it a go, and he still doesn't like it, then leave it alone. He'll decide when he's ready.

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  3. Although Mark whizzes around on his scooter, he is fearful of the bike, too. Think we'll make it a goal for the spring to tackle this. I'm thinking of tieing a reward to it -- just to get him to try it a time or two.

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  4. My youngest learned as her older brother could do it and that was just NOT on ! :-) She needed to be able to do it so her brother could not keep saying 'I can ride a bike and you cannot'.....seeing older children do it obviously seems to help

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