In his own time

Miles rarely does anything because I ask him to in a normal way. Requests must be phrased in such a way that he thinks whatever we are doing is his idea. Peer pressure, begging, bribing, etc. are completely ineffective. In fact they usually make matters worse. Occasionally we get lucky with reverse phycology but even that is rare. I know all of this about Miles but that doesn't mean I always handle things well.

A few years ago Miles was doing really well on his bike so I figured it was a good time to take his training wheels off. I took them off and without telling/asking him about it and tried to start teaching him. He wanted nothing to do with it. I tried to coerce him but he just dug in his heels. After a week or so I gave up and put the training wheels back on. Later when his friends started riding a two wheeler we tried again. He didn't care if they could do it - he didn't want to. A year or so after that when kids way younger than him started riding by on bikes, I tried to talk him into it again. It was about that time he quit riding a bike all together. Neighbor moms noticed and tried to help. One even offered to teach him herself... nothing. I dropped it completely then. It was about a year ago. He has not touched his bike since, until:

A few weeks ago on one of the hottest afternoons of the summer, Miles randomly announced at lunch that he was ready to ride a bike. He wanted to go out right then. Knowing this was a small window of opportunity that must not be wasted, I agreed. Then I remembered that I was 37 weeks pregnant and it was 115 degrees outside. So, I promised him dad would do it right after work. Brian was a trooper running around forever in the heat. Miles took awhile to get it down but can now officially ride a bike. Finally.

If only I had the luxury of waiting over two years for him to make all of his decisions.