Tricycle and test baby

September 2nd, 2010 by robfelty

Spencer on his new tricycle

Spencer on his new tricycle

For at least a month now, every time we go to the park, and Spencer sees a tricycle which some other kid brought, he has to try it out. Frequently this makes the little boy or girl mad, because they don’t want to share, and the parents also get upset, because they want their kid to share. It seemed like it was time to get Spencer a tricycle. I started looking a good month ago, paying attention to other ones I saw around, as well as ones in the store. I decided I wanted one with a push handle, in case he gets tired of peddling. I thought that this radio flyer tricycle looked particularly cool. I decided to try to buy a used one, so I started looking at craigslist. I was surprised to find that most of the tricycles offered on craigslist were more than 50% of the price of a new one. Apparently used stuff is more expensive these days because of the bad economy. Yesterday I decided to go ahead and buy a new one for Spencer. He was immediately very happy. He can’t really pedal yet, so it is good that I can push (and steer as well).

In other news, Spencer took part in a word learning experiment today at CU-Boulder. They had various objects differing in shape and material, and were trying to discover whether he associated likeness via shape or material. Interestingly enough, he seemed to group things by material, not by shape, which I found very surprising. His receptive vocabulary continues to grow rapidly, but his active vocabulary is still fairly small. Tonight in the bath we practiced the word boat, which he pronounced simply as [bo].

  • September 3, 2010 at 5:38 am Gabe
    What, no helmet? I saw a kid on a trike in the park the other day with a helmet. I guess the park is much more dangerous than your driveway!
  • September 3, 2010 at 2:52 pm Clare Dibble
    I don't even know how to respond other than to confirm that Spencer is not wearing a helmet.
  • September 3, 2010 at 3:34 pm Maggie
    I'm amazed at how helmet crazy parents have gotten recently. I don't plan on having Hazel where a helmet when she learns to ride a bike.
  • September 3, 2010 at 3:50 pm Micah
    Having young kids wear a helmet is not just for the immediate benefits (which may be negligible depending on factors) but is a habit-forming exercise. Like having little kids learn to brush their own teeth even before they can effectively remove plaque unassisted.
  • September 8, 2010 at 4:32 am Gabe
    Micah: At that point, why ever have your children take *off* their safety helmets? Why are scooters and tricycles so special that they require helmet use, but not cars or beds? I'm sure that just as many kids die from having a pillow fight without wearing a helmet as die from riding to school without a helmet. I'm almost surprised that they don't have special bed helmets so that kids can go to sleep knowing they won't be seriously injured if they fall out of bed!
  • September 8, 2010 at 8:19 am Robert Felty
    Last week at the park we saw a dad and his 3 year old. The 3 year old had just gotten a scooter. He was wearing knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, and a helmet. But get this - he was also wearing sandals. I think the first thing I would want my kids to wear while using a scooter would be close-toed shoes. Also Gabe, that picture is from the walking path near our house (and he is not pedaling yet, I am pushing him)
  • September 9, 2010 at 5:53 am Gabe
    Rob: it's the same thing with bicycles. Parents have kids wearing helmets before they have their training wheels off, yet they neglect to teach their kids traffic safety. The kids will just grow up thinking that they don't have to follow the rules of the road because they have a helmet to protect them!
  • September 9, 2010 at 6:05 am Micah
    Gabe, nice slippery slope (forgo a helmet as you descend if you choose :). I stated there's a reasoned position on safety/health that includes children learning habits even when immediate benefits are debatable (but in hopes that attitudes and habits engender long term benefits that are real). Anyway, here are some helmet safety stats http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm. I'm not in favour of overly cautious helicopter parenting anymore than than parents who don't care if their kids make the next Jackass movie.
  • September 9, 2010 at 11:59 am Gabe
    Micah: The numbers on helmets.org don't really point to the necessity for wearing a helmet while riding a bike, let alone a tricycle. In terms of emergency room visits, bicycles fall squarely between "Beds, Mattresses, Pillows" and "Chairs, Sofas, Sofa Beds". The sentence "Wearing a helmet while doing X saves lives" is true for almost any value of X. So why is riding a bike so special?

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