DS cant swim or ride bike at 7yrs.. am i worrying for nothing?

mummyroysof3 · 26 July 2012 at 8:40AM

was thinking about this thread yesterday...ds wh o is 7 decided 2 days ago he wanted his stablisers of his bike. im regreting it now cos his legs are black and blue and worried someone will see them and send social services round

Mindless_Clone · 26 July 2012 at 9:25AM

alleycat` wrote: »

Once i'd got it in my head i could do it then the problem went away.

Yes, that's a good example. A lot of the time it's fear of failure or our own mental blocks that stop us achieving what we can.

FWIW I couldn't swim until I was about 8 or 9 when we had swimming lessons at school, and couldn't ride a bike until I was 8. I actually remember waking up on Christmas morning and being bitterly disapointed to see a bike "wrapped up" there next to my brother's (he was Grifter mad so overjoyed to finally get one). I know, I sound like a right spoilt child.

Boxing day my dad took us out to a local car park and we spent the day learning to ride. By the end of that day I could ride... and I loved it. I spent hours riding my bike and it was probably the best present I ever had.
My 5 year old DS can't ride his bike (and show no interest in doing so) but we have one of those temporary pools every summer so his water confidence is not too bad and he will likely be able to swim unaided soon.

If you're overly concerned about it you could try coaching him, but otherwise just give him lots of encouragement for everything new he tries and build his overall confidence levels. Whether he then wants to learn either skill or not will be up to him but he will benefit from the general encouragement anyway.

Nan63 · 26 July 2012 at 9:37AM

My grandson (nearly 6) decided last Thursday that he wanted the stabilisers off his bike. Less than 2 hours later he was peddling quite happily up and down the road completely unassisted.

None of us had mentioned the stabilisers at all. He had simply decided that now was the time and he was ready.

Mrs_Ryan · 26 July 2012 at 9:49AM

I'm 31, I cant swim and have a phobia of water. Neither can I ride a bike. I was taught both when I was younger but put me in a swimming pool and I just flail around.