Getting all my Ducks in a Row: Spending a Saturday Afternoon with Each Other

Monday, September 6, 2010

Spending a Saturday Afternoon with Each Other

I have been giving a lot of thinking to the way that we spend our weekends - usually doing a whole lot of nothing - or things that don't involve the whole family. I want to make the weekend more about family time so I have decided to put a plan into action. The next few weekends we are going to be walking our bikes down to the park for bike riding and picnics.

This was our first chance to put my plan into action. It was a lot of work but I have got to hand it to this sweet little family of mine - we really rose to the occasion...

I wanted to teach the 2 oldest to ride a bike this weekend. Jakob surprised us all though when we got to the park - he jumped on his bike and rode off. I'm not sure if the kids learned in his sleep or if he was just old enough that he understood the mechanics of it. But we barely saw much more than just the blur of him riding by. He was gracious enough to grace us with his presence when we took a break for lunch though.

Miss Maddy was fabulously outfitted in her finest Hello Kitty attire...this girl stole my heart yet again with her bright smile and happy laugh. She was very reluctant to ride her tiny like bike...that is until I asked her brother to stand about 5 feet in front of it and dared her to get him. Then she was pedaling like a woman scorned...which I guess she kinda is...the boys are constantly taking her things.

Ethan still has training wheels on his bike - but I am vowing to get rid of them as soon as I have taught Av to ride a bike. He was pretty proficient at riding but seemed a little lost when his brothers were otherwise occupied. Being the youngest of 3 boys I fear this is a feeling that he will have to get used to.

This one...oh this one gave me a run for my money. Avery has never been a quiet child and he's a little overly dramatic. He was able to ride his bike for quite a ways but the fear of what he was actually doing took root and wouldn't allow him to go any further. He was jumping off his bike mid pedal, turning the handlebars to sharply and crying I'm scared to death of breaking a bone for all the park to hear.

I really felt for him...but I know that once he understands balance - he will never forget it. I don't want to let him give up so I kept showing him how far he went each time. Showing him the tracks that he was making in the grass since riding on the concrete paths seemed to scary for him (although we did a bit of it later in the day).

As I was walking his bike back up the slope for him to take another pass at it - I was thinking about all the hard things that he is going to have to experience in life. There are so many things that will break his heart from grades to girls to friends. I want him to know that even if he is scared to death - he can't let fear take hold. He has to look the things that he finds scary in the eye and do them anyway.

Each time that I had to wait for him to make the choice to pick himself up off the ground (where he threw himself not where he fell) I would smile and say I'm proud that you are trying again.

We are headed out again this week for some more practice...I wish that I was able to capture a picture of my family on our way to the park. Try to imagine Hubby in the lead walking his bike, carrying our lunch tote and walking Miss Maddy's pink bike along. Followed by 3 boys walking their bikes and Miss Maddy and I bringing up the rear walking my bike and carrying another lunch tote.

We have to walk down a sharp hill - which is hard enough for the 2 older boys but poor Ethan learned a tough lesson. His parents aren't going to bail him out when the going gets tough. Walking home was the roughest on him since he is only 5 (almost 6) - he cried, screamed, let him self go limp and pitched the biggest fit of his young life. But he finally bucked up and pushed his bike up the hill.

I was so proud of each of us walking our bikes into the garage. It was hard - no doubt but it sure beats what we usually do on a Saturday afternoon.

Tips I learned from our afternoon:

Check out your bikes if they are assembled at the store. The handle bars on mine weren't screwed in tightly and were slipping all over the place.

Make sure to wear your sunscreen. It was the first day of fall like weather and it really let us forget about the sun. We all have sun burns - even Miss Maddy - this is the saddest thing I have ever let happen. If you knew me - I am a sun screen queen with my kids. All summer long I have made sure that they wore it. Feel like such a chump that I forgot it.

Explain what the brakes are for and how to use them. Walk the bike along while the child gets accustomed to them and how they work.

Don't give up - but do take a break. We stopped after a few tries for a picnic lunch. This gave Avery a chance to get some much needed rest and reflection. He was able to talk out his fear enough to give it another go.

Multi task if possible. We were eating our left over oranges so that we wouldn't have to carry them back up the hill home and thought it would be a good idea to empty our water bottles too. Miss Maddy thought this was a great time for a cooling shower.

After all the effort that our family put in - I wanted to reward them with something that we don't do very often...having a mother who doesn't really like ice cream (I know it's crazy) they were fist pumping over a trip to the ice cream shop:

I want to make sure that when my kids look back on their childhood they remember more than their Mother on the computer - so I am taking steps to ensure that they have great memories of family times.

What is your favorite activity to do with your kids?