Learning To Ride A Bike

A and J have new bikes. I'm shaking my head wondering where they'll ride them, since we live close to some very busy roads, neither my husband and I have bikes of our own at the moment, and they're too young to use the bikes on their own as transportation.

Still, it's a life skill - gotta learn how to ride! Once you do, you never forget. Right now they're both very dependent on training wheels and parental assistance, so that means the only time they can take them out is when my husband is off work (one parent per kid).

We did this yesterday, with much success! We took the bikes to a nearby park with a big enough paved area (walkways and parking lot) so that they could ride continuously on a level surface (unlike on our hilly driveway, or the teeny patio in our back yard). The park was the ticket! We spent about an hour there, and although A still needs her training wheels, by the time we left she was braking and turning (and enjoying the speed bumps :) with much greater ease than when we arrived. J, on the other hand, spent most of the hour running beside his bike pushing it. Hey, that's ok - it was another form of exercise, and he clearly loves his new bike.

We're going to try and do this at least once a week. When the kids have enough solid skill, I'll then be able to take them out without my husband, and jog while they ride. This is still a bit far off, though, because the area we live in has too many hills and too much traffic for my liking. I'll have to see how it goes, I guess.

Meanwhile, so far so good :)



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My Denial

What happened to Grade One?

Seriously! Didn't it just begin? What do you mean there's only four weeks left? That can't be right!! What about... Christmas and Valentine's Day and Easter and Mother's Day, and... (oh). OMG.

Hang on, though... my son was JUST BORN. What do you mean he starts Kindergarten in 102 DAYS???!!!

(And yet... I'm not getting any older ;) Heh heh
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Arrrgh.

Why do I watch these shows about obese children? Why? I know what my reaction will be before the show even starts.

In this case it's the Oprah episode featuring the "Half Ton Teen" Billy and his Mom, who enabled his obesity by over spoiling him with unhealthy food. Now I understand that she lost her first son at a very young age, but wouldn't that make a mom more concerned about the health of her next son?

What really spiked my blood pressure is when she said (I paraphrase, but you get the idea):

"As a mom, you just give it to them when they ask. You just love them, so that's what you do."

I don't know about you, but to me part of loving your child is being able to say NO! This seems painfully obvious, and yet we see again and again kids who suffer because parents are unable to set boundaries.

I am not perfect, believe me. But when (for example) I was making my daughter her whole grain toast this morning at breakfast and she asked for white bread, I said:

"No! Of course not. White bread is not good for you."

She has learned from experience (and many many tireless attempts to argue with me) that I won't change my mind, so she just shrugged and walked away, and sure enough, ate the whole grains.

Rocket science? Hardly. Backbone? There ya go.
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Report Cards And Their Influence On Parenting

I never got bad grades so I never feared report card days, but I can see where it would cause stress for some kids. I say this because even with Alyssa's near perfect report card (on Friday the 13th ;) I still felt myself transform from Calm Mommy (ahhhhhh) to Type A Mommy.

Now in my own defense, I don't think it's a bad thing to examine your child's area of weakness (in her case "oral", as in: speaking French in class), and try to help her improve. However if it weren't for the report card, I more than likely would have left it alone and given her a chance to grow into more confidence.

Here's the dilemma: kids are individuals, with their own rates of progress in various subjects. There is a certain amount of benefit in catering to that, and letting a child grow into areas of aptitude (as in, they'll learn when they're ready). If they're ready on their own terms, learning is faster, more likely to stick, and a lot less stressful.

On the other hand, real life just isn't like that! There is equal value in gently nudging (shove! ;) a child out of his/her comfort zone and stretching their learning boundaries, so that they're better equipped to deal with the demands of reality once they leave the safety of the nest.

(Sigh! Reality at the age of 6? Sheesh)

In the end, I did the "shove" thing with Alyssa and her oral shortcomings. I pressured her and forced her (specifically: we did some reading out loud). I struggled with the question of am I helping her, or creating a bad experience? After her initial resistance, she gushed with excitement about how easy it is once you try, and how much better she felt.

phew

What about you - how do you handle a teacher's critique of your child? This is such an open ended question because every scenario is slightly different, and no single response is appropriate all the time. It's a case by case judgement call, and as parents we simply do the best we can.
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Back To School!!!

Alyssa said to me last night: "Mommy tomorrow I'm going to get up super early and get dressed right away!!!"

I think she might be excited ;-)

Lil J doesn't seem to care one way or the other, but I know once we get to his preschool he'll be happy. My biggest challenge today is getting them there in this, um, weather.

Speaking of which, my timer is ringing - time to wake them up.

Have a great day, everyone!
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Kids Are Good For Your Health

As I was writing this post on my Last Ten Pounds blog, I was reminded yet again how my kids have improved all aspects of my life, not just my health (in the case of that post, they help me out by being the "candy police" - if they weren't following me around watching everything I do, I'd be eating more of the Halloween candy ;-)

Having kids is almost like reliving your youth, with the added bonus that you can abstain from those parts of youth you were happy to leave behind.

Like for instance, because of my kids and their school skating trips, I'm forced to lace up and learn the sport myself, only without the self-conscious worry and peer related stress I would have had as a pre-teen. A friend of mine enjoys the same music as her twelve year old, but listens to the songs she likes, rather than the songs that tell other tweens that she's "cool". You get the idea.

LOL not to mention the fact that I could write an entire blog, never mind one line in one post, about the increased physical activity I've had since having kids. So although some days it feels like they've taken ten years off my life, in reality they've probably added ten years :-)

Fun With A Vacuum Cleaner

I'm a bad Mom.

OK, rephrase: you know everyone is ready for "get the bleep out of here and go back to school already" when chasing your children and pretending to suck them up with the vacuum cleaner is insanely funny to all involved. I think I had as much fun as they did.

One of the many upsides is that the children are now as dust free as the carpet.

15 Heathly Loose Tooth Foods

OK here are some things I've been trying... This is one of those lists that's endless, so I know as soon as I publish this I'll think of ten more things!! LOL

1) Sliced banana (or any sliced fruit, for that matter)
2) Sliced avocado
3) Soup
4) Yogurt
5) Porridge
6) Whole grain pancakes
7) Cheese
8) Eggs
9) Peanut butter
10) Fruit smoothies
11) Cooked mashed veggies
12) Pasta
13) Rice pudding
14) Homemade pudding (made with real milk and reduced sugar)
15) Apple sauce

Kids and Asthma

Thank you, Dr. Rhonda Low, for pointing out that too clean isn't always better. I'm referring to her story about rising asthma rates in kids, and how under utilized immune systems (created from over clean environments) can overreact to benign things such as dust and pests.

Ah ha! Finally. My not vacuuming daily has been vindicated. OK so I'm a bit of a germaphobe with the kitchen counters and the toilets, but the carpets are lucky if they see the vacuum cleaner more than 2 or 3 times per week. Wahoo!!! Hey maybe I should do less laundry too. Hmmm. This theory definitely has potential. Hey, it's good for the kids, right?