trike to bike, or skip the trike?

Jun 21

Posted by: Scott in: blog, caleb isaiah, family, just another day in paradise, me myself and i, memories, parenting

So Caleb doesn’t have a tricycle. Is that like sacreligious or something? Against the laws of parenting. It is one of the number one toddler “toys” that comes to mind that most kids have. Or at least it seems that way to me. We’ve tried them at the stores a few times, and while I’m sure it would be different if we brought one home, and he worked at it for a while, he just doesn’t seem to get it. Like the pedals and the seat of the trike are ‘in-line’ with each other. Maybe he’d do better on a trike that had a higher seat, but then it becomes so top heavy. He turned three at the end of March, and now I’m wondering if it makes sense to even get a tricycle now. I am famous for researching amazon.com, walmart.com and target.com for reviews before buying anything. Overall, I could care less what consumer reports has to say about something. I want to know what the real people that buy the item and use it have to say about it. I have had this tricycle picked out for about six months now, but never have gotten around to getting it. Of course, it got rave reviews, and it’s very cute to boot.

In my parenting defense, we do have this pedal Kettcar, but it weights about as much as a VW Bug, and he can’t do anything with it either. The seat is up as far as it will go and he is just now able to reach the pedals. And no, we didn’t pay that absurd price for it! Don’t get me wrong, it is top notch quality and will last forever probably, but really, $179.00?? Yeah my mom got it in like new condition at a the salvation army for about $20 or $30 bucks! They probably didn’t know they could have easily sold it for twice that or more!

So our children’s museum has a Fourth of July bike, trike and wagon parade coming up. You bring your wheels in and decorate it in patriotic craft items, then everyone parades around the museum (which happens to have a road in a circular format going around it – you can kinda tell here). Everything ends with a popsicle party outside. So of course this got me thinking, it would be an excellent opportunity for him to see lots of other kids riding their bikes and trikes, which might help him. But I’m left wondering…trike or bike?? Three or four seems to be the year that kids switch over to bikes. I’m wondering if he’ll do better on the bike since the pedals are more under you instead of out in front. I can’t imagine it being a lack of leg strength, considering he runs everywhere he goes, when he’s not jumping. He can last at least 20 minutes on a trampoline. Non stop jumping until he falls, getting up immediately and jumping some more. Anyway, so here’s the bike I’m looking at. I read a few people saying it is heavy, but it is supposed to be at most Walmarts, so maybe we could go try it out.

HOW cute is this matching set?!

It is hard to imagine my little baby on his first bike. I still remember my first bike. I think I had a Radio Flyer tricycle with the red and white streamers on the handlebars and step on the back. My first bike was blue with a white basket on the front and a big daisy attached to the basket. When I outgrew it, it stayed on the front porch for a few years. A wren built a nest in the basket and laid eggs, which we later watched from the window as the babies tried out their wings, learned to fly, and flew away.

I asked Scott just the other day if he thought Caleb had gone through a growth spurt because the scale suddenly shot up two pounds. He said, “I don’t know. I’m really trying not to notice.”

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