Child Outsmarts Parent

This evening, we went on a bike ride and were discussing the reasons for buying the boys new bikes for the summer. A few weeks ago, Brandon popped his rear tire. We were able to replace the inner tube, but not the outside tire; therefore the tire will always be a little flat and it is just a matter of time before the tire blows again. Now Brandon has a 12" bike, while Logan has a 16" bike. Since they are both small, they usually fight over riding Brandon's bike. Unfortunately, Logan usually loses because Brandon doesn't want to give up his bike and ride the bigger one. Well, since we are not going to buy another small bike, we need to convince Brandon that is way cooler to ride a big bike like Logan's.

The following proposition is made at the top of hill: If Brandon rides Logan's 'super fast' bike and Logan beats him to the bottom of the hill, Brandon could get another 'rocket' bike. I knowing where this is going am trying to get Brandon to race me down the hill (since I am on the scooter). Brian is trying to keep Logan at the top of the hill and give Brandon a head start. Brandon says to me, if Logan wins I can get another rocket. So I am going to go really slow. Now I can not really argue with this logic (we never said the boys were dumb). So Brandon continues to go as slow as possible, while Logan is thrilled to be riding Brandon's bike zooms down the hill as fast as he could. Brian tries to get in between them to slow Logan down and speed Brandon up. Brandon rides the brakes the entire way down while Brian is trying to push him.

I am trying really hard at this point to be supportive of Brian's decision. But it was too funny watching the entire scenario play out. When Brandon finally makes it to the bottom of the hill in TEARS, he won't even move on the bike. Brian tells him he cheated by not pedaling, and Brandon tells Brian he made him cheat by pushing him down the hill.

The outcome: We encouraged Brandon to be a big boy (otherwise he was going to bed at 7:30). Therefore, both of the boys will probably be getting new bikes and probably both the same size but different colors. Glad to know that children know how to think logically.