DD7.5 only JUST learned to ride her bike this spring. She had flat-out refused to get on it without training wheels previously. Luckily, she did have some peer pressure from her neighbourhood friends, but they were also incredibly supportive. The three of them rode alongside her and helped to keep her from becoming too frustrated. They gave her a lot of encouragement and all cheered like mad when she finally did it.
For her, like a lot of things in life, if she can't do it perfectly the first time she tries than she doesn't ever want to try again. When we finally got her on the bike without training wheels she was so short-tempered and cranky and almost in tears the whole time. She kept saying "I can't do it, I hate my bike!" When she finally drove off by herself she all of a sudden loved her bike.... go figure!
I feel your pain. I was really frustrated with her last year. We now use this as a good example of how important it is to practice and how it is okay to not be good at something.
If I can offer a suggestion, a neighbour gave us the heads up that they learn more quickly if you put their seat down as low as possible so that their feet are flat on the ground. It gives them more confidence and they can push off easily. She was riding within a day of us doing this.
