New Wheels

My sister-in-law had lent us my niece's old bike with training wheels, since my niece is now starting second grade and is onto bigger and better things. We need to return it in a couple of years however since my youngest niece (same age as Pupetta) will need it. We were happy for their generosity and for the prospect of saving some money. The lender bike is quite nice. It's a Specialized and it retails for about $130. A good, solid, bike. One would think Little Miss Sunshine would be thrilled about this bike, but she demonstrated a low preference for it and continued to seek out her beloved princess trike which is too too small for her now. While at Walmart one day, we strolled past the bike isle, and there it was! A beautiful bright pink Hello Kitty bike calling her name. It was just her size, color, and even had real ribbons hanging from the grips. After mulling it over a few days, I convinced Guitar Daddy that it would be a smart purchase since we would only have to buy one for Pupetta in a couple of years anyways. This way, Little Miss Sunshine would have some motivation and ownership and hopefully learn to ride a bike. Then, it could be passed down to Pupetta in time.

Little Miss Sunshine was not just given the bike. She had to earn it. After completing certain tasks, or showing good behaviors, she earned one token (a colored poker chip purchased at a teacher's store). After earning 10 tokens, she traded them in for one Hello Kitty token. After earning 6 Hello Kitty tokens (60 tokens in all) she would earn her bike. It took about a month and a half to earn the bike and towards the end I was more lenient with the token earning as I really just wanted her to have time to practice riding the bike. Finally, trade in day came! I should have bought the bike and stored it, but that would have been too easy. I waited until she had the tokens and then most of the local Walmarts were sold out. We located one online at a store an hour away. We hopped into the car and went out on our drive through rain, thunder and lightening. Finally, we arrived, and all were happy. Even Pupetta who got a new helmet out of the trip.