In Praise of the Balance Bike

I first heard about the concept of a balance bike at my moms' group. The basic idea is that kids need to learn how to balance before they try to put together balancing and pedaling at the same time. My parents bought k a balance bike (no pedals) for Christmas from Costco. It took a while in the beginning, but gradually k got it. Our neighbors gave us a hand-me-down girl's bike a few months ago. k tried it, but she thought it was too heavy and didn't like it. We had k try it again on Sunday, and within 1/2 hour, she was riding by herself! (I still have to give her a push to start her out, though. And, understandably, she only likes to ride where there is plenty of room). This process was so much less painful than what I remember from my own childhood. So, I heartily recommend skipping the training wheels and going for a balance bike! The proof:



Now, if there was only a "trick" to learning how to swim!