About a week ago, we did something for Kenzie that I swore I would never do... welcome to real life parenting. Haha! We put training wheels on Kenzie's bike. Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad thing, and it isn't. Yet it was something I wanted to avoid. We started Kenzie on a balance bike, which she still does really well on and then Santa brought her a bike last Christmas but left the training wheels just in case though they weren't on. Some kids take to riding a real bike really well and some apparently don't. It's not that Kenzie couldn't do it necessarily. She lacked the experience of pedaling so that didn't help and she is our "nervous" child. She isn't huge on being put in situations in which she isn't in full control (like mother, like daughter). We also never had the opportunity to truly work a lot with her to help her feel she gained that control. So, with our help, she was okay but she still lacked confidence and wasn't actually getting the process down. It then meant that she didn't want to ride her bike too often. So, we decided to put the training wheels on for now and as she gains confidence, we will raise their height so that eventually they do not touch the ground and then eventually we will remove them. As Steven said, why reinvent the wheel? (I think his pun was intended) We both used training wheels and ride bikes just fine now. Training wheels opened up a whole new world for her though and she is LOVING bike riding right now. Her love for it actually encouraged Steven and me to try to fill our own bike tires after about 6 years of no use so we can ride with her. Surprisingly, it worked. We were so sure the tires had dry rotted or something. The only downfall is that Will is still on the balance bike and really just getting started with it so he isn't fast at all. That means if we want to ride with Kenzie, only one of us can ride at a time. But we are making it work.
The day we put her training wheels on we decided to go for a family walk/bike ride around the walking trail in our neighborhood. One lap is .8 miles. We did 2. All in all, it was almost 2.5 miles of bike riding for Kenzie. She was exhausted by the end. Will ran along part of the way and rode in the stroller or used his battery powered 4 wheeler for the walk. It got Steven and me talking though about how we are happy our kids are so excited about getting outside and getting moving.
Building healthy habits in our kids has always been a priority for us. Though it took us a while to get on the wagon ourselves. We may not always eat the best foods and sometimes we sacrifice some nutrition for ease though we are working on that more. I think that made us be more into making sure that the kids get in physical activity and enjoy it. It is no secret to our close family and friends that our kids love being outdoors. We try to spend at least an hour or so outside daily. Usually, it ends up being more. Combined with the kids playing at school, they get in quite a bit of outside activity. We are also very lucky that we live in a place that we can do something like that all year round. Although the summer can be unbearably hot at times, we try to make it work if we can. I know that it definitely isn't as easy to be able to do that in other places as they not only sometimes get unbearably hot, but they also get unbearably cold. Mild winters and the fact that our kids are really well adjusted to the heat of the summer let us spend time outside all year round.
Steven and I also think our own running helps them want to be active. They think running is super fun. Kenzie loved doing the kids' race over the summer and both kids will be taking part in the kids' race at the race we have planned for December. They are pretty excited. I'm excited to watch them participate. I know how accomplished I feel after a race even if it wasn't my best race and I truly think Kenzie felt the same way after she ran. This will be Will's first race so he is really enthused. Kenzie is older now so her distance is double what it was before. We aren't worried though. Apparently I wasn't home the other day before bed when Kenzie randomly announced to Steven that she needed to "get in her exercise" and proceeded to run from the top of our hill down to the bottom and around the corner before about facing and heading all the way back up. Twice. I can barely get up that hill on the first try and I actually run. Haha!
We think that it is important for us to continue to try to emphasize the need to be active for the kiddos. Especially as they get older and may become more interested in activities that are less physical. I hope that this is something we can keep up and encourage.
The day we put her training wheels on we decided to go for a family walk/bike ride around the walking trail in our neighborhood. One lap is .8 miles. We did 2. All in all, it was almost 2.5 miles of bike riding for Kenzie. She was exhausted by the end. Will ran along part of the way and rode in the stroller or used his battery powered 4 wheeler for the walk. It got Steven and me talking though about how we are happy our kids are so excited about getting outside and getting moving.
Building healthy habits in our kids has always been a priority for us. Though it took us a while to get on the wagon ourselves. We may not always eat the best foods and sometimes we sacrifice some nutrition for ease though we are working on that more. I think that made us be more into making sure that the kids get in physical activity and enjoy it. It is no secret to our close family and friends that our kids love being outdoors. We try to spend at least an hour or so outside daily. Usually, it ends up being more. Combined with the kids playing at school, they get in quite a bit of outside activity. We are also very lucky that we live in a place that we can do something like that all year round. Although the summer can be unbearably hot at times, we try to make it work if we can. I know that it definitely isn't as easy to be able to do that in other places as they not only sometimes get unbearably hot, but they also get unbearably cold. Mild winters and the fact that our kids are really well adjusted to the heat of the summer let us spend time outside all year round.
We think that it is important for us to continue to try to emphasize the need to be active for the kiddos. Especially as they get older and may become more interested in activities that are less physical. I hope that this is something we can keep up and encourage.
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