Kids Sporting Activities

[mimico_polak]

Umm, I think you need to reclassify your kids. I am assuming you aren't taking "the little guy" and you are in fact taking the much bigger but still small guy..

The 'little guy' is the only boy out of the 3 LoL

The 'littlest girl' is still only interested in boobs and milk. Nothing else matters to her.

Maybe I'm a bad dad but not ready to take the two elder ones without mommy yet. If things go well with him, I'll take the middle one also next time.

 

[Scuba Steve]

The 'little guy' is the only boy out of the 3 LoL

The 'littlest girl' is still only interested in boobs and milk. Nothing else matters to her.

Maybe I'm a bad dad but not ready to take the two elder ones without mommy yet. If things go well with him, I'll take the middle one also next time.

One is so much easier I can take my boy pretty much anywhere without much of an issue as soon as the girl comes things get very complicated and whiny

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[mimico_polak]

One is so much easier I can take my boy pretty much anywhere without much of an issue as soon as the girl comes things get very complicated and whiny

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Yup. Little guy is a suck. But so is the middle one.

They'll get there, but I think a weekend alone will be cool.

 

[LePhillou]

@mimico_polak
Not a hike but rattray marsh is in nature.
Otherwise also not really a hike but in nature, joshua creek, south east of oakville (at mississauga limit pretty much)

As for cycling, i put in the work and it paid off. Balance bike. to full size bike (without training wheels), where i removed the pedals so he could "balance bike" the full size bike
then i added the training wheels with pedals (as he didnt know how to pedal). Then removed one training wheel and then removed the other
But the key is to not leave training wheels on for long...like after max 2 weekends of practice it should be off the bike otherwise they become used to it.
Another trick is saw was to have no training wheels but to have some kind of stick rigged to hold it from the seat tube from behind (don't know how to explain it) I refused to have to pay for my kids to learn cycling and by 3 my youngest was riding by himself. The older one took longer cause we went the training wheel route but by end of 4 y old she was riding by herself.

 

[mimico_polak]

@mimico_polak
Not a hike but rattray marsh is in nature.
Otherwise also not really a hike but in nature, joshua creek, south east of oakville (at mississauga limit pretty much)

As for cycling, i put in the work and it paid off. Balance bike. to full size bike (without training wheels), where i removed the pedals so he could "balance bike" the full size bike
then i added the training wheels with pedals (as he didnt know how to pedal). Then removed one training wheel and then removed the other
But the key is to not leave training wheels on for long...like after max 2 weekends of practice it should be off the bike otherwise they become used to it.
Another trick is saw was to have no training wheels but to have some kind of stick rigged to hold it from the seat tube from behind (don't know how to explain it) I refused to have to pay for my kids to learn cycling and by 3 my youngest was riding by himself. The older one took longer cause we went the training wheel route but by end of 4 y old she was riding by herself.

Thanks. I'll be taking off the training wheels this week on his bike. But need to do it before he sees it.

As for the stick. I know exactly what you're talking about...we bought one from Amazon and it has been a gift from heaven...

1. Never showed up so we got a refund from Amazon
2. Showed up 2 days after the refund (and Seller didn't want it back so long as we left a positive review)
3. When he gets bored of it I can just push the bike back home instead of carrying it

Something like this...

 

[GreyGhost]

@mimico_polak
Not a hike but rattray marsh is in nature.
Otherwise also not really a hike but in nature, joshua creek, south east of oakville (at mississauga limit pretty much)

As for cycling, i put in the work and it paid off. Balance bike. to full size bike (without training wheels), where i removed the pedals so he could "balance bike" the full size bike
then i added the training wheels with pedals (as he didnt know how to pedal). Then removed one training wheel and then removed the other
But the key is to not leave training wheels on for long...like after max 2 weekends of practice it should be off the bike otherwise they become used to it.
Another trick is saw was to have no training wheels but to have some kind of stick rigged to hold it from the seat tube from behind (don't know how to explain it) I refused to have to pay for my kids to learn cycling and by 3 my youngest was riding by himself. The older one took longer cause we went the training wheel route but by end of 4 y old she was riding by herself.

Rattray marsh is the quietest place I have been in the GTA. A whole different world there.

For the kids, they had a balance bike but never really used it. Started on bicycles with the pedals removed (slight downhill for first few rides, then they push along like balance bikes). Then add pedals but coasting. Then pedal. Older one figured it out in a weekend of anger (and only one crash). Younger one is pushing but doesn't want pedals yet. I don't like training wheels as they encourage lazy behaviour and it can be hard to get them off. Having them on for a short period of time may work.

EDIT:
Second kid is using the bike kindly donated by @Robbo. Older one started out this season on it as I had popped a tube on his bigger bike and still loves it.

 

[LePhillou]

Rattray marsh is the quietest place I have been in the GTA. A whole different world there.

For the kids, they had a balance bike but never really used it. Started on bicycles with the pedals removed (slight downhill for first few rides, then they push along like balance bikes). Then add pedals but coasting. Then pedal. Older one figured it out in a weekend of anger (and only one crash). Younger one is pushing but doesn't want pedals yet. I don't like training wheels as they encourage lazy behaviour and it can be hard to get them off. Having them on for a short period of time may work.

I only had them on because he'd never had a tricycle or pedalled anything before so he didnt understand the motion (which to me was the weirdest thing ever lol)
Now he's on a 20" bike which is actually a tid bit too big for him but he's rocking it cause its a "big boy bike"

 

[Scuba Steve]

I only had them on because he'd never had a tricycle or pedalled anything before so he didnt understand the motion (which to me was the weirdest thing ever lol)
Now he's on a 20" bike which is actually a tid bit too big for him but he's rocking it cause its a "big boy bike"

We had a pedal cart both kids have been riding since 2 oldest picked up the bicycle around 3 youngest has no interest in it. 6-year-old is also on a 20-incher which is too big for him but he rides it well and it works way better than the crap kids bike

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[GreyGhost]

We aren't building an outdoor rink this year. A neighbour is putting one in. 30x60 with deep end about 2' deep. They decided to use a water truck this year instead of running hoses for days. Ouch. 17,000 liters was about half the water they needed so still a lot of hose water required. Also water from the truck was about four times the cost of water from the tap. Our tap water isn't cheap so I expected much less of a gap.

 

[Maniac]

We aren't building an outdoor rink this year. A neighbour is putting one in. 30x60 with deep end about 2' deep. They decided to use a water truck this year instead of running hoses for days. Ouch. 17,000 liters was about half the water they needed so still a lot of hose water required. Also water from the truck was about four times the cost of water from the tap. Our tap water isn't cheap so I expected much less of a gap.

And it will melt in on Thursday. South Ontario weather does not allow backyard rinks anymore.

 

[GreyGhost]

And it will melt in on Thursday. South Ontario weather does not allow backyard rinks anymore.

It's reasonably shaded so it holds up quite well. No way it will even be frozen by then anyway. They just filled a day ago.

One house we half considered years ago had an outdoor rink with boards and refrigeration. Also fake ice in the basement. Way too much hockey for us. God knows what it costs to run the ice plant but I wouldn't want to pay that bill.

 

[mimico_polak]

And it will melt in on Thursday. South Ontario weather does not allow backyard rinks anymore.

My neighbour does one each year. Starts it in mid January and goes to about mid to late Feb.

 

[crankcall]

The harbour eventually freezes and thats our Bronte rink , about 5-10 rinks of various sizes get shoveled off and sort of 'mainatined' for the brief freeze window. Lots of families, shinny games and police so far dont care if there is the odd beer can in sight. Its great fun.

 

[GreyGhost]

The harbour eventually freezes and thats our Bronte rink , about 5-10 rinks of various sizes get shoveled off and sort of 'mainatined' for the brief freeze window. Lots of families, shinny games and police so far dont care if there is the odd beer can in sight. Its great fun.

We still have the zamboni I built but arent doing a rink this year. They build two big rinks in the park a block away. I figure it's easier/cheaper to zamboni one of them than to build a rink. It made sense for us during covid lockdowns but not anymore.

 

[Scuba Steve]

We still have the zamboni I built but arent doing a rink this year. They build two big rinks in the park a block away. I figure it's easier/cheaper to zamboni one of them than to build a rink. It made sense for us during covid lockdowns but not anymore.

Waiting for the pond to freeze pretty sure I won't use the backhoe tractor to clear it this year almost ended wet and expensive last year. May leave the 10hp snowblower by the pond. Way less expensive if it end up on the bottom.

Sent from the future

 

[mimico_polak]

My son has been horrible at skating. Not sure a rink is the best plan at this point in time.

Maybe when they’re older and can actually skate it’ll be worth the effort.

 

[crankcall]

But keep taking him skating, he’ll be horrible until he’s not .
And it’s a cheap date later, your teaching him life skills


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[mimico_polak]

But keep taking him skating, he’ll be horrible until he’s not .
And it’s a cheap date later, your teaching him life skills


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

Oh we continue to do so. Missed the deadline for skate camp, but I'll take him on my own.

Same with the bicycle...he used training wheels...until one day 'dad take these off' and he was zipping around. Although I made the mistake of buying him one of those 4 wheel carts that he pedals. May end up selling it, but both kids like them.

He's repeated swimming (first level) 4 times as he just doesn't get it. But we're off to attempt #5 in January.

 

[Scuba Steve]

Oh we continue to do so. Missed the deadline for skate camp, but I'll take him on my own.

Same with the bicycle...he used training wheels...until one day 'dad take these off' and he was zipping around. Although I made the mistake of buying him one of those 4 wheel carts that he pedals. May end up selling it, but both kids like them.

He's repeated swimming (first level) 4 times as he just doesn't get it. But we're off to attempt #5 in January.

Bring them by once the ice is frozen he can practice for a day on the pond he should have it by the end of that

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[crankcall]

other tip for teaching kids to skate is use hocket tape or duct tape and tape up the ankles so there is less side to side wobble in the boot. the more rigid when they are learning keeps them mostly pointed the right way