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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Raising Children Thread

My kid has very vague memories about living with my mom during "the divorce" when he was 3-4, then we got our own home when he was 4 and 1/2 and we were there for 10 years. He will never forgive me for moving him up here. We both still miss "our house" a lot. Lots of good times, memories, etc, even though it's been 6 years, that was his childhood home.
 
Zoning Goddess said:
My kid has very vague memories about living with my mom during "the divorce" when he was 3-4, then we got our own home when he was 4 and 1/2 and we were there for 10 years. He will never forgive me for moving him up here. We both still miss "our house" a lot. Lots of good times, memories, etc, even though it's been 6 years, that was his childhood home.
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I think it's harder as kids get older. We moved out of state twice, the first time when RT was starting 4th grade from Oregon to South Carolina and when she was entering 8th grade from South Carolina to New Jersey. She adjusted well in both moves but I involved her as much as possible and being open about the transition. It also helped that we moved to/from similar socio-economic locales. When we moved to NJ, I promised her that we would not move until she graduated from high school which I followed through on.
 
I still can't figure out my kids eating. They don't like pizza unless it's cold. They don't eat pasta. I'm not sure they're related to either me or my wife. They do like sushi, clams, oysters, mussels, fish, veggies, steak, and other things that some kids just won't touch. One of them doesn't even like hard candy, only chocolate. At least they're somewhat healthy.
 
Midori said:
Last night my son chose to go to bed at 6:30 rather than eat two little bites of carrots. The carrots were even caramelized. He refused to try them.
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My older son, the defiant one, would go to his room hungry rather than eat anything that he didn't want. My younger son, the compliant one, would force it down and then throw it back up on his plate. I had no defense for either tactic. Amazingly, they both became adults and eat almost anything.
 
ofos said:
Amazingly, they both became adults and eat almost anything.
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And there's the insight. They usually always get sufficient nutrition, as long as there is sufficient diversity of food to eat.

I was a very picker eater as a child, but ate enough of each category to become a 200+ lbs, 6'-1" guy.

My wife and I figure that as long as we provide a balanced meal, we've our job.
 
ofos said:
My older son, the defiant one, would go to his room hungry rather than eat anything that he didn't want. My younger son, the compliant one, would force it down and then throw it back up on his plate. I had no defense for either tactic. Amazingly, they both became adults and eat almost anything.
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My son lived on graham crackers for a year. He turned out fine.
 
The same son doesn't want to follow house rules, got mad and moved to his dad's. I'm sad about it.
 
kms said:
The same son doesn't want to follow house rules, got mad and moved to his dad's. I'm sad about it.
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He'll be back. He just needs to test someone else's limits and thinks it's better "over there". It won't be.

My coworker's daughter who is 14 just did the same thing a few weeks ago. She got a call this morning with an apology and asking if she can come back because living at her dad's house wasn't what she thought it would be.
 
I was getting my daughter (who will be three in a few weeks) ready for bed last night and as this was our conversation as I was putting some stuff away in her room before changing her into her pajamas:

Me: Can you take your shirt off by yourself?
Her: No (lackadaisically, not defiantly)
Me: Can you take your shorts off by yourself?
Her: No
Me: What can you do?
Her: I can do THIS!

Words don't do it justice but at that point she broke into a never seen before by her mother or myself, but well-choreographed dance consisting of very wobbly knees, bouncing up and down, and repeatedly criss-crossing her arms across her body. She finished up her dance by bowing and thanking the audience.

Are all toddlers this silly or is mine an exceptional goofball.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Are all toddlers this silly or is mine an exceptional goofball.
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Depends...is there a predilection toward silliness in you or your wife or close extended?

Because I have a predilection toward silliness and my almost 4 yr old son can be exceptionally and spontaneously silly.

Embrace and mold her silliness, because it is a good skill/coping mechanism in the future. I feel bad for people who take things too seriously.
 
mendelman said:
Depends...is there a predilection toward silliness in you or your wife or close extended?

Because I have a predilection toward silliness and my almost 4 yr old son can be exceptionally and spontaneously silly.

Embrace and mold her silliness, because it is a good skill/coping mechanism in the future. I feel bad for people who take things too seriously.
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There is a definite predilection for it from me and my side... not so much from the wife's side.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I was getting my daughter (who will be three in a few weeks) ready for bed last night and as this was our conversation as I was putting some stuff away in her room before changing her into her pajamas:

Me: Can you take your shirt off by yourself?
Her: No (lackadaisically, not defiantly)
Me: Can you take your shorts off by yourself?
Her: No
Me: What can you do?
Her: I can do THIS!

Words don't do it justice but at that point she broke into a never seen before by her mother or myself, but well-choreographed dance consisting of very wobbly knees, bouncing up and down, and repeatedly criss-crossing her arms across her body. She finished up her dance by bowing and thanking the audience.

Are all toddlers this silly or is mine an exceptional goofball.
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I could have the worst day and just talking to my 4 year old for 20 minutes about how he views the world can make it all better. Simple thoughts. Simple reasoning. No anger, fear, or greed.

I love toddlers when they aren't making me insane.
 
Hink said:
I could have the worst day and just talking to my 4 year old for 20 minutes about how he views the world can make it all better. Simple thoughts. Simple reasoning. No anger, fear, or greed.

I love toddlers when they aren't making me insane.
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Me too. Bella was being naughty this morning and after a slight scolding she climbed up into my lap, took my glasses off, put her hands on my face, and gave me a big kiss. Couldn't be cross with her after that.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I was getting my daughter (who will be three in a few weeks) ready for bed last night and as this was our conversation as I was putting some stuff away in her room before changing her into her pajamas:

Me: Can you take your shirt off by yourself?
Her: No (lackadaisically, not defiantly)
Me: Can you take your shorts off by yourself?
Her: No
Me: What can you do?
Her: I can do THIS!

Words don't do it justice but at that point she broke into a never seen before by her mother or myself, but well-choreographed dance consisting of very wobbly knees, bouncing up and down, and repeatedly criss-crossing her arms across her body. She finished up her dance by bowing and thanking the audience.

Are all toddlers this silly or is mine an exceptional goofball.
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Great story!! Enjoy the silliness!
 
The twins keep sleeping in the same bed... I was keeping track for a while how many nights they did it, but it seems that it is everynight now. I put them in their separate beds, but by the time I go to bed they are in the same bed. I move one back. In the morning they are together again.

I guess it isn't a safety concern, it is just funny to me.
2tvnQaM.jpg
 
Hink - That is cute, but on a crabby note....you're lucky that they sleep with each other. My wife and I still get at least 2 of my 3 in our bed every night. And occasionally, we'll get all three....the 6 yr old is getting big.

945552_10201047968387753_25289558_n.jpg
 
Just got a nice letter from the county health dept that told us our 2.5 year old has elevated lead b/t 4.5 and 5 so not danger but still elevated.
We don't live in an old home (built ~2008) so that's not it.
I'm apt to believe his continued nature of putting EVERYTHING in his mouth has led to this.

Time to lock up all small toys around him and get him retested in a month.
 
JNA said:
Interesting and funny article: ;) :lmao:

What if there were a trading deadline for kids? Opinion
http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2013/07/what_if_there_were_a_trading_d.html

Have you ever thought about it ?
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Yeah. Maybe for a minute or so, when he is yelling at his mom. He has a friend I would trade up for. :D He is a Stepford kind of kid - straight As, very serious (kind of stiff and humorless), plays the piano like Mozart and has such good manners. His mom is one of those Supermoms.

But I realize that I love my own kid so much and if I traded him I would just end up turning the Stepford Kid into another version of my own. And my own is a pretty darn good kid and he makes me laugh.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday was one of those days I dread every year. The day we take my son to get the school supplies the school says he needs for this year. Man, oh man, there is a lot of stuff - notebooks, papers, protractor, calculator, tissues, binder, pencils, pens, backpack, etc. And I know, I just know that half of this stuff is going to end up in some other kid's bookbag, because my son lends his friends school supplies when they are out of something, or some kid filches it from him. So my weekly shopping bill was double what it normally is, and that doesn't even count the trip to the big city (Great Falls) two weeks ago to shop at Old Navy for clothes.

I love the boy, but, damn, he is expensive. :-c
 
Last evening Junior and I were on a bike ride and we stopped to watch a rocket footbal practice where the youngest kids were about Junior's age. After a short interval of watching practice drills Junior says "now why on earth would anyone want to do football? I mean you got that guy yelling at you all the time and everyone looks like they don't have time to think."

I guess we'll be signing him up for baseball instead.
 
Maister said:
Last evening Junior and I were on a bike ride and we stopped to watch a rocket footbal practice where the youngest kids were about Junior's age. After a short interval of watching practice drills Junior says "now why on earth would anyone want to do football? I mean you got that guy yelling at you all the time and everyone looks like they don't have time to think."

I guess we'll be signing him up for baseball instead.
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:lmao::lmao: Smart kid you got there. Less chance of brain damage in baseball anyway.
 
WTH is going on with class assignments at Junior's elementary? I found out yesterday there are 24 students in his class: 6 boys and 18 girls! I just check last year's student directory and counted up all the 1st graders from last year and see there were in total three more girls than boys for all three classrooms combined. :-|

On a related side note, do elementary school age girls not have "cooties" anymore? They sure did when I was a kid, but I gather there's no stigma nowadays with boys playing with girls. Has anyone else found this to be true? Maybe it's unique to Junior's class because either you play with a girl or there's pretty much no one else to play with due to the gender imbalance.
 
Maister said:
WTH is going on with class assignments at Junior's elementary? I found out yesterday there are 24 students in his class: 6 boys and 18 girls! I just check last year's student directory and counted up all the 1st graders from last year and see there were in total three more girls than boys for all three classrooms combined. :-|

On a related side note, do elementary school age girls not have "cooties" anymore? They sure did when I was a kid, but I gather there's no stigma nowadays with boys playing with girls. Has anyone else found this to be true? Maybe it's unique to Junior's class because either you play with a girl or there's pretty much no one else to play with due to the gender imbalance.
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I'd hate to be the teacher with the class of 18 boys and 6 girls. :-o

Related - my youngest (who's 4 today) is only one of three in his preschool class. This is a County run preschool housed in the local elementary school. There are three afternoon preschool classes and for some reason one class got the full load (about 12 including my 5 yr old son), the second only 9 and the third (my 4 yr old's) only 3. Now children are usually added throughout the school year, but this seems extremely lopsided. But we're not complaining - with only 3 kids so far, my son should be able to get excess one-on-one time.
 
mendelman said:
I'd hate to be the teacher with the class of 18 boys and 6 girls. :-o
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According to the teacher she'd prefer the 3:1 imbalance this way than the way it turned out. Evidently, boys whacking on each other all day is preferable over constant whines to the teacher of "soandso said suchandsuch and it hurt my feelings..."
 
Maister said:
WTH is going on with class assignments at Junior's elementary? I found out yesterday there are 24 students in his class: 6 boys and 18 girls! I just check last year's student directory and counted up all the 1st graders from last year and see there were in total three more girls than boys for all three classrooms combined. :-|

On a related side note, do elementary school age girls not have "cooties" anymore? They sure did when I was a kid, but I gather there's no stigma nowadays with boys playing with girls. Has anyone else found this to be true? Maybe it's unique to Junior's class because either you play with a girl or there's pretty much no one else to play with due to the gender imbalance.
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I'm just gonna say your kid's got some good odds and finding a girlfriend. Also, cooties doesn't seem to bother the kids in our neighborhood. My girls (7 & 4) play with the next door neighbors boys (8 & 5) and no one complains.

On a happy note, it's the first day of preschool for the little one, she's so excited! They have kids toys there!
 
Reason 3903823904830 why being a parent can suck...

So after the kids get off the bus yesterday on the first day of school, the mother of a kindergartner knocks on our door and says our 5th grader was picking on her daughter on the bus and now she doesn't want to ride it anymore. I felt bad for her kid so I had my daughter apologize. I know my oldest daughter can be a brat and can have a sharp tongue, and I highly doubted she did what the mother said, but I felt her apologizing was the best thing to do in the moment I will give props to the mother, as she was not being too accusatory, apologized to us several times and even said she has older kids so she knows how they can be.

Our daughter's story is that she was trying to talk to the girl and complimented her on her backpack, and this littler girl started saying rude things to her, so she reciprocated. I did explain to my daughter that no matter what happened, because the girl is a kindergartner, she will never win in that situation, so just be quiet. We know this little girl's 8 year old brother and have heard him swearing when he's out playing, so it doesn't surprise me that this little girl would have a mouth on her. I'll be sure to let the mom know if there are any more situations.
 
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dvdneal said:
On a happy note, it's the first day of preschool for the little one, she's so excited! They have kids toys there!
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Our daughter's first day of preschool is next week (but we go Friday to meet all the staff and let her meet the other kids and see the classrooms). She has been talking about preschool nonstop for the past month. She just had to get her own backpack and immediately pack it with all of her crayons two stuffed animals, a paint set, some blocks, etc... No, she couldn't lift it or zip it after she packed it. She also says she needs two apples everyday - one for eating on the bus ride and one for eating at snack time.

She is only three years old and she is going to be sorely disappointed when she finds out that we drive her to preschool and there is no bus (it's only about 5 or 10 minutes away), she is only there two hours a day, and she will only be there two days a week.

We are already discussing though that if she really likes it once she is there maybe we will sign her up for the 6 hour version for those two days sooner rather than later.
 
The wife and I decided to enroll our oldest into a preschool at a local Presbyterian church for 1/2 day which starts next week. With number 3 coming along and with number 2's disabilities, strictly homeschooling this year is going to be too difficult. We looked all summer and chose this one because it had the best christian faith based educational programs in the area, and it is made of up kids from similar economic and religious backgrounds.

We already talked with his teachers and the preschool will be a supplement to our homeschooling. I do worry about him getting board while he is there. They said that they will be learning numbers and letters. Number 1 has a 2nd grade reading level and is now doing basic multiplication and division.
 
Our 3-year-old daughter had her first half-day of preschool this morning and loved it.

I took the morning off so that I could go with her and walk her in for her first morning and then pick her up afterwards (and also because we would have the added bonus of being able to walk to brunch without the toddler afterwards which is something we never get to do). I also made her some fresh cookies for when she got home because I remember my mom making fresh cookies each year on the first day of school.

When we picked her up, we had to wait outside the doors to the church and the teachers would bring out the kids to meet the parents. When she saw us my wife bent down to pick her up but she ran right past her to get to me - that made my day! :D She was happy to see us and sad to have to leave the school. On the way home she told us that she forgot to learn anything which made me laugh.
 
My son is in his second year of middle school. I miss when he was in elementary school and actually looked forward to going to school. Now he is 12, sullen and hates middle school. He says the teachers are all mean. I told him you try teaching a bunch of middle schoolers all day and see how you feel!

I sympathize too. I hated middle school. The teachers were mean. And the girls were kind of mean too. And there were a lot of guys who were in serious need of a sock in the nose. Middle school is like Lord of the Flies.

We went to meet his teachers last week at the school open house. They actually seemed pretty nice. Even the math teacher. My wife was practically rendered speechless at how handsome my son's advisor is.

I think I have mentioned it before but I really hate Powerschool - that online service where you can keep up with your kid's school work. My wife monitors it daily and there are constant fights about his schoolwork. He pretty much has had a straight A average since they started giving out letter grades but she micromanages every little assignment. I figure most kids mess up one or two assignments every quarter. Mistakes are part of learning. She is convinced that he isn't doing his homework because he gets most of it done during school. My take is that he isn't ditching his homework, he gets it done fast because he is really smart.
 
otterpop said:
My son is in his second year of middle school. I miss when he was in elementary school and actually looked forward to going to school. Now he is 12, sullen and hates middle school. He says the teachers are all mean. I told him you try teaching a bunch of middle schoolers all day and see how you feel!

I sympathize too. I hated middle school. The teachers were mean. And the girls were kind of mean too. And there were a lot of guys who were in serious need of a sock in the nose. Middle school is like Lord of the Flies.

We went to meet his teachers last week at the school open house. They actually seemed pretty nice. Even the math teacher. My wife was practically rendered speechless at how handsome my son's advisor is.

I think I have mentioned it before but I really hate Powerschool - that online service where you can keep up with your kid's school work. My wife monitors it daily and there are constant fights about his schoolwork. He pretty much has had a straight A average since they started giving out letter grades but she micromanages every little assignment. I figure most kids mess up one or two assignments every quarter. Mistakes are part of learning. She is convinced that he isn't doing his homework because he gets most of it done during school. My take is that he isn't ditching his homework, he gets it done fast because he is really smart.
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Middle school IS like Lord of the Flies. I hated middle school. RT did better but she's the social butterfly in the family.

You know, that online monitoring service things started up when RT was in high school. I checked it 0 times in 4 years. I told her that her 1st quarter grades would tell me if she's taking care of business or not. There was never an issue. I guess I always approached it like it was her responsibility to know what her homework was and when it was due, if she needed help then she generally asked for it. All kids are different though and some need more assistance in getting and staying organized, but I agree the only way they learn ownership/responsibility of something is if they are allowed to carry it themselves and either succeed or fail.
 
kjel said:
You know, that online monitoring service things started up when RT was in high school. I checked it 0 times in 4 years. I told her that her 1st quarter grades would tell me if she's taking care of business or not. There was never an issue. I guess I always approached it like it was her responsibility to know what her homework was and when it was due, if she needed help then she generally asked for it. All kids are different though and some need more assistance in getting and staying organized, but I agree the only way they learn ownership/responsibility of something is if they are allowed to carry it themselves and either succeed or fail.
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You and I have the same approach to schoolwork. I never made my kids do their homework; I told them that they were the ones who had to face the teacher and answer to whether the work was done or not. I also never took forgotten assignments to school for them. I raised 3 kids who are accountable for their actions, so it must have worked.
 
I like this article - http://shine.yahoo.com/experts/nfl-...i-ll-try-to-teach-my-daughter--165016060.html and not just because he is on my fantasy football team. It is a pretty interesting perspective from a pretty intelligent football player. The article is mostly about what he is going to teach his daughter, my favorite part:

3. Know your why. Any time anyone comes up to me with any kind of idea or business proposition, I always ask them "Why?" It seems simple, but it's actually an intricate question. Nine times out of ten, if someone's why is to make money, they'll fail at what they are trying to do. Here's why I believe this: "Successful" people are usually self-vindicated people. They don't need pats on the back. They don't need compliments. The merit of their work is endorsed by what they see in the mirror. They drive themselves until they are satisfied. People who are monetarily motivated often tire of their occupations and eventually lose focus. But if you are in love with what you do day in and day out, it's not work. Every day you're adding a piece of joy to your ethos. So find your passion, and fall in love with your why.
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That is a great way to explain dreaming to a kid. Fall in love with your job.
 
kjel said:
Middle school IS like Lord of the Flies. I hated middle school. RT did better but she's the social butterfly in the family.

You know, that online monitoring service things started up when RT was in high school. I checked it 0 times in 4 years. . . All kids are different though and some need more assistance in getting and staying organized, but I agree the only way they learn ownership/responsibility of something is if they are allowed to carry it themselves and either succeed or fail.
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kms said:
You and I have the same approach to schoolwork. I never made my kids do their homework; I told them that they were the ones who had to face the teacher and answer to whether the work was done or not. I also never took forgotten assignments to school for them. I raised 3 kids who are accountable for their actions, so it must have worked.
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I learned the pitfalls of Powerschool the hard way. My wife went ballistic because our son got a F on a pretty big assignment. It was so out of place that I more confused than angry. But my wife just wouldn't let it go and she kept badgering me to do something. So I went and talked to the kid and he was as confused as I was. But still I read the kid the riot act. I could tell I really hurt his feelings.

Turns out the teacher transposed the numbers when she put it into the system. That 48 was actually a 84. When, much chagrined, I apologized to my son for coming down on him so hard for nothing, he was incredibly gracious about it. The grade got fixed (0k, thanks to Powerschool), but I learned my lesson. And I had some father-son making up to do. It was a while before I said "no" to a trip to Dairy Queen.
 
otterpop said:
I learned the pitfalls of Powerschool the hard way. My wife went ballistic because our son got a F on a pretty big assignment. It was so out of place that I more confused than angry. But my wife just wouldn't let it go and she kept badgering me to do something. So I went and talked to the kid and he was as confused as I was. But still I read the kid the riot act. I could tell I really hurt his feelings.

Turns out the teacher transposed the numbers when she put it into the system. That 48 was actually a 84. When, much chagrined, I apologized to my son for coming down on him so hard for nothing, he was incredibly gracious about it. The grade got fixed (0k, thanks to Powerschool), but I learned my lesson. And I had some father-son making up to do. It was a while before I said "no" to a trip to Dairy Queen.
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RT would check it herself, she would generally inform me that the teachers were constantly behind or assignment grades would be missing. I give teachers some slack because in middle/high school if you have 5 classes of 30 kids that's 150 assignments to grade/check and then input into the system. Something is bound to go amiss. Like I said, the quarterly grades never gave me a reason to worry. RT learned from a young age to keep all her graded assignments that were returned to her, it helped in a few instances where something was missing or transposed.
 
kjel said:
RT would check it herself, she would generally inform me that the teachers were constantly behind or assignment grades would be missing. I give teachers some slack because in middle/high school if you have 5 classes of 30 kids that's 150 assignments to grade/check and then input into the system. Something is bound to go amiss. Like I said, the quarterly grades never gave me a reason to worry. RT learned from a young age to keep all her graded assignments that were returned to her, it helped in a few instances where something was missing or transposed.
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In many to most cases, I don't think that the teachers are the problem... it is the system that is the problem.





My wife got a BS lecture from her sister yesterday. Apparently she is not happy that we give her kids (7 and 10 years old) books for their birthday's this fall. Last time I was over at their house, there was plastic crap (toys) piled up everywhere. Yes, kids should have toys, but they already have legos, GI Joe's, and a bunch of good toys, along with at least 100 video games. But they had no books that we could see.

So we bought one of them each about $50 worth of age/reading level appropriate books for their birthdays this fall. We also included books based on subjects that they are interested and around half of them were just fun books with no educational value, except for practicing reading. The wife told her that if she does not like it, we will take the books back and they will get nothing and ask the kids if they would rather have books, or nothing.
 
The sister was out of line, and Miss Manners would disapprove.

That being said, a gift is intended to be something that the recipient likes or appreciates, or something that the recipient thinks that they need or want. I've been where you are, giving books to kids who don't want nor appreciate them. It's a waste of money and effort. I've since decided that I'll try to give what a recipient wants. The best part of giving a gift is knowing that I made someone happy with the gift.

Maybe you and your inlaws should agree not to exchange gifts, since you have different ideas of what gifts should be.
 
I agree that the sister was out of line. Never look a gift horse in the mouth!

I do however agree with KMS too that gifts should be something that the recipient wants/needs. I've gotten to the point that all gifts to my nieces and nephews at their birthdays and holidays are money (and a small candy bar just so they still have something to unwrap). I have found this to be the 100% most efficient way of picking out gifts. It doesn't matter if it's $5 or $50 or $500 - it can always be used and I've never once gotten a complaint. And I generally get more "thank yous" than I did when I would give material gifts... which were also usually books of some sort. My wife says I am a boring gift giver, I say I am a rational gift giver.
 
I just realized I forgot to include that her kids like the books we got them. Granted it is not their first "go to" item, but they are still enjoyed. When they come to our house to play there have been plenty of times that they grabbed books. It is just that my sister-in-law thinks they are inappropriate gifts.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I agree that the sister was out of line. Never look a gift horse in the mouth!

I do however agree with KMS too that gifts should be something that the recipient wants/needs. I've gotten to the point that all gifts to my nieces and nephews at their birthdays and holidays are money (and a small candy bar just so they still have something to unwrap). I have found this to be the 100% most efficient way of picking out gifts. It doesn't matter if it's $5 or $50 or $500 - it can always be used and I've never once gotten a complaint. And I generally get more "thank yous" than I did when I would give material gifts... which were also usually books of some sort. My wife says I am a boring gift giver, I say I am a rational gift giver.
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I went that way a long time ago. Usually I go for a $10-$50 Target gift card and a nice card and call it a day.
 
michaelskis said:
I just realized I forgot to include that her kids like the books we got them. Granted it is not their first "go to" item, but they are still enjoyed. When they come to our house to play there have been plenty of times that they grabbed books. It is just that my sister-in-law thinks they are inappropriate gifts.
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In that case, buy them books or a book supplemented with a gift card or something. Don't penalize the kids because their mother's an ass.
 
I felt like a yuppy this weekend and it made me happy… we bought a trailing bike at REI for my son so we can go on longer bike rides and it was really fun to be able to ride at a faster pace again. It turns an adult bike into a kind of tandem bike (but the child can pedal or not pedal if they want). It was really cute to see my husband and son on it. My son can get his own bike going pretty fast, but he still has short kindergartener legs and stamina. I guess I wouldn’t feel like a yuppy if I was able to take my son to school and myself to work on it, but where we live now I can’t (unless I want to bike on the freeway, there’s literally no other way to get into town). Anyway, money well spent, so far.
 
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