Colinisms

This past week we set up brand new bunk beds...and Colin gets the top!  He's over the moon about it, and has been very mature about our rules we set down.  (No toys, no jumping, no playing.)  I know, I know - rules for a bunk bed, how lame are we?  But with Caleb and Benjamin in tow, things could get ugly, fast!

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Today, Colin rode his two-wheeler bike!  We bought the bike last summer, but he wasn't quite tall enough for it.  This year his toes just touch, on one side, when the bike is slightly leaning.  Hopefully he'll grow into it over the summer.  He was quite tentative about riding.  We've been talking about it since last year, and he just wanted to stick with the smaller bike with training wheels.  But now Caleb is ready for it, and so I put my foot down and told Colin that the two-wheeler is his bike, and the other is Caleb's, so if Colin wanted to ride he was going to have to learn.

I was also really unsure about how to teach a kid to ride a bike. I can remember getting my first big bike, and riding it, but I don't recall anything about the technique of teaching.  A couple of friends said to find a slight (very slight!) hill so that the momentum would take some of the pressure off of learning to balance and pedal at the same time.  So we went on over to a nearby school and used a grassy hill (to ease the pain of falling.)  James first taught Colin how to "fall off the bike" - how to catch himself with his legs before he actually tumbled.  Then he gave him a push down the bump and off Colin went!  Now he can't get enough of it.  I'll have to find his elbow and knee pads so he's (I'm) not nervous about trying it on the pavement.