OP: When I was first starting with clipless, I had a few of those oopsy moments. Then I came across a mnemonic that really helped me, as I drive a standard transmission car: think of unclipping as similar to the clutch on your car: whenever you're slowing down or Ina situation where you might need to stop, unclip the foot you usually put down while standing. Once I heard that, I never got caught clipped in again. It became just as second-nature to me as using the clutch.

This is menmonic might help your wife if she's familiar with driving a manual car.