Two Wheelin'

Back when Paige was still three...but just barely I decided it was time for her to learn to ride a two wheel bike. She had a few tricycles and was an expert and riding those, but not so much on the two wheeler. So we pulled out Hailey's old bike that she learned on and planned to give her some time with the training wheels...and then take them off next year. Well of course we couldn't find the training wheels. So then we decided to turn it into a balance bike by removing the pedals. Well that didn't quite work either because her little three year old legs were too short to ride that way. Onto plan B...or C. I bought her a little balance bike (a real one that was short enough for her legs). But because I was too cheap to buy a pink one, she had to settle for a blue and yellow one. Anyway, she pretty much refused to ride the 'boy' bike and was determined to stick with her tricycle or learn to ride her real two wheeler. So one sunny May day I pulled out her big girl bike to give it a go. Then I looked across the street at our neighbours and saw he was out front teaching hisr little daughter to ride a two wheeler as well but with training wheels. His girl is just a month or two older than Paige. They don't ever play...it's a busy road and you NEVER cross it without parents. And we have great neighbours on either side so there's been no need. Anyway she had a FANCY pink and purple bike with a purple basket and streamers and everything a little girl could dream of on a bike, including BIG shiny training wheels. And here was Paige with four options:

-A blue 'boy' balance bike

-A garage sale tricycle

-A hand me down princess bike without pedals or

-A giant 6 year old's bike...that was a little bit rusty (because that's what $5 on kijiji gets you).

I felt sort of like a failure...I mean we had quantity, but were lacking in quality by quite a bit. We're thrifty people and are proud of it, but I felt pretty bad for my little girl. We were both so envious of that flashy purple bike. So...I taught her a lesson that day. I decided we would show that little girl up! lol. I never said I taught her a good lesson...I just taught her something, which is when you feel less than someone, just show them you are better and you will feel better! hahaha.

So I grabbed Hailey's bike put her on it and said "GO" and guess what...she did! I ran with her for about a house length and then let go and she was flying! No problems at all! And while I could hear the Dad across the street yelling praise for his 4 year old riding her bike WITH training wheels (he was saying "look at you go!! you're only 4"...which honestly isn't that impressive right? I mean, she had TRAINING WHEELS!!!) I was yelling "GO Paige!!! you're only 3!!! Woohoo!! No training wheels!!" It was the battle of the neighbours and I wanted to win!!

And that my friends is how Paige learned that a little competition is all it takes to accomplish what you want. That when you feel inadequate you just need to make sure you're better then someone and you're good to go. AND to really feel great, you just need to rub your success in someone else's face! So....maybe not my finest parenting hour. But she did learn to ride her bike. And I'm extremely proud of her!!

And then the next day Ben came home and put the pedals back on her princess bike (with one streamer) and reenacted the whole 'learning to ride' thing (without all the competition and gloating I brought to the table). And I took pictures quietly, Hailey pushed the baby in the stroller and my heart grew 100 times because this was good quality family time...and that beats a quality but flashy purple bike any day!