The oldest has a birthday coming up, so he decided (with a little help) that he wanted a new bike. Well, it wasn’t so much ‘wanted’ as it was ‘needed’. I never realized how many bikes a kid can go through as they grow (four and counting). He was starting to look like a bear riding a circus bike. His knees were nearly hitting the handlebars and his toes just missed scraping the ground. Based on the visual evidence alone there wasn’t much of an argument against it. What closed the deal was him finding one he really liked.
Naturally, little brother gets the hand-me-downs which, ironically enough, he is quite okay with. Probably because he knows that it doesn’t count as his birthday gift. He insists on riding his old bike for a while because it still has the pedal brake. Mastering the handle brakes will take some time. Considering his history with freak bike accidents (a broken arm two years ago), Mom and I are quite all right with it.
What say you?