A Rough Run

I was so encouraged a few weeks ago when Miss Rose had such a successful first bike ride at the lake. I thought I had found a new trainer, an easier run, a seat in the stroller for the new baby. We've tried the bike twice since and both times have been rather disastrous.

The second time we took her bike, the day before had been her first soccer practice. She'd run all over the place and had been very excited. I honestly think her legs were tired and she was just tired that morning. We made it only a mile (and even that was a struggle) before turning around.

This morning I decided to try it again. Miss Rose had a nap yesterday, her tires were freshly pumped and she was pretty awake and excited about riding. That lasted all of 5 minutes.

Later on in the ride I decided that her tires were overinflated (not by their requirements, but for a still new rider) and for some reason her bike seat kept turning slightly. She almost fell several times--her bike ended up on the ground, but thankfully she never did. There was a near collision with another bike rider (adult of course).

And the tears, and the wailing. Miss Rose tries to ride really fast and her bike just isn't made for continual fast riding. That made it even worse. She didn't want to listen to my instructions to help her understand how to properely ride.

It became more of an issue of her having a bad attitude and refusing to change it. There were a few times I lost my cool a bit, but mostly I tried really hard to help her through it. I give in quite a bit to her fits, just because I can't handle them. I was so frusterated today, that I decided this would not be the day.

She was rested and didn't have sore muscles. She was just being a brat and complaining about every little thing. I KNEW she could do it. The first ride she did was 3.5 miles and she would have gone further had I let her. I decided we would do 3 miles today. I have her plenty of breaks and at one point a guy on a bike even stopped and lent us a tool to tighten her seat.

The last mile and a half she pretty much wailed the entire time. By then, I quit trying to reason with her. She knew her behavior was unacceptable and it was a behavior issue, because her bike was doing fine. The only time she had trouble was when she was paying more attention to crying and no to riding. Yes...I was that parent who had a wailing kid at the lake. It happens to all of us!

We had planned to go to Starbucks on the way home--if it was a good morning. Of course as we were arriving at the car, she all of the sudden had no more tears and was proud of her accomplishment. I reminded her that her attitude hadn't been good. After buckling in, she asked if we were going to Starbucks.

I said no, she hadn't had a good attitude, the ride took too long (Gracie needed a nap) and we weren't going. I was expecting the waterworks to start again. But she just accepted it and didn't say another word about Starbucks. She knew her behavior didn't warrant that treat.

I learned a good lesson too. I do need to stick to my word. Miss Rose is smart enough to know when she deserves something special and when she doesn't. It does no good if I give in.

This has been long...but I guess I just needed to talk it out. It was a rough run for me...and running is supposed to be my outlet. Maybe tomorrow. And hopefully, we'll keep working on this bike riding thing and get it figured out eventually.