Sweetpea's new ride

My babies are growing up. It's been a while since I've been a mother to an actual baby, and soon, my littlest one, Sweetpea, will be turning three.

We got Spud a bike for his third birthday, and wanted to do the same for Sweetpea. I've gained a better appreciation for bikes since then. Rather then get the Canadian tire special this time, I scoured the used bike ads for something. (Whether they're good bikes or not, I still can't bring myself to spend $200 for a bike my child will grow out of in a year or two.)

I was in luck! An unbelievably good deal on a little norco bike in fabulous condition. My stay at home mom status gave me an edge on the competition for the bike. I could get it during the day, as opposed to seeing it that evening, like the seller told me a couple people were interested in doing.

There were two downsides: 1. Getting it during the day meant that Sweetpea would be with me, so no real surprise. 2. The bike was blue.

No surprise? That's life. I explained that it would be for her birthday, and she gets that. The blue part? Oh vey... My little princess informed me "I no like blue bikes. I just like pink bikes."

Now, I couldn't bring myself to spend the same amount (or more) on a crappy quality barbie bike then I would on this great find - even if it was blue. A compromise had to be reached, and fortunately, the compromise was in the details.

Sweetpea agreed that she would accept a blue bike as long as she could have a pink basket...

My little girl's new ride

I have to admit that I can feel the difference in quality over Spud's bike (which we bought new for quite a bit more.) While it's still heavy (it is steel, after all), it's a heck of a lot lighter then his, even taking into account it's a smaller size. Future bike purchases for my kids are going to follow this pattern - going for good quality second hand, rather then poor quality new.

It might get decked out even more for my princess. When we were looking at baskets, Spud informed me that he wanted to get bike streamers for Sweetpea's birthday. Previously when I've tried to get him to pick gifts for her, he had trouble focusing on the fact that we weren't shopping for him. It's neat to see that he now recognizes the way gifts work now, so I'll probably let him get them for her.