What kind of mother yells at her son...

...for not being able to ride a broken bike?!? Holy cow, I feel TERRIBLE!

Those of you that frequent our blog have seen me complain a lot about David not riding his bike fast enough while I jog. He usually ends up walking his bike by halfway through or so, which often made me yell at him. I was so frustrated and angry that I had to worry about that when I was also trying to jog (something I haven't done in 7 years) while pushing a regular double stroller (not one meant for jogging) and holding Molly's leash! I was really thinking that David was a total wimp for not being able to ride for even a mile without whining. And I've been stressing about needing to buy a double jogging stroller, since if David can't ride the whole way, clearly Ryan can't either.

Last week Ryan got a new bike for his birthday, which was the exact same model as David's, just brand new (David's was a $5 garage sale purchase). A few days later we went for a walk while both boys rode their bikes, and David struggled more than Ryan! I still thought David must be a major wimp.

Then Dan noticed that his tires were really flat. And we started wondering if the bike might just not work quite right. I have had to put the chain back on a couple times, after all.

So Monday morning I took the kids for a walk, with both boys riding their bikes. They were way faster than me! But, even with the newly inflated tires, Ryan was still going strong at the end, and David had to walk his bike.

Then Tuesday was my jogging day, so I had Ryan sit in the stroller again, and let David ride Ryan's bike. When I jog, we always go the same way down a long, straight sidewalk, so I can let David go ahead of me as much as he wants. David passed me on his way back a couple minutes before I even made it to the corner, and I didn't see him again the whole time! I got home and the bike was parked nicely in the garage, and David had gone inside to play!

So yesterday we found David a nice, new 18" bike (the boys had both been riding 16", and David looked a little cramped) at Walmart for $55. That's a lot more than I usually throw around on non-essentials, but he clearly needed a new bike!

Today was jogging day again, and both boys rode their shiny new bikes. And David had absolutely no problems again! Ryan fell over a couple times and scraped his knee, but still rode the whole way. And I've discovered that Molly will stay close by me even when she's not on a leash, so I let her be free (I bring one in case she gets naughty). That was easily the most stress free jog I've been on! Yay!

So the morals of the story:
1. Bikes aren't necessarily a good thing to purchase second hand.
2. Don't assume the worst - look for less negative possibilities first.
3. When your child says something is too hard, maybe they aren't being wimpy, maybe it really is.

I feel really bad that I had such negative feelings about David when it was really the bike that was the problem. He doesn't seem to mind, though...and he's thrilled with his new bike! I was going to take a picture of the boys on their bikes (blogs are always better with pictures), but both were off and doing other things by the time I was home!