Catch up

[lnr]

Done since Jun 14th:

• Test rode an Onderwater tandem, which has the child stoker seat at front - Matthew loved it
• Second parents evening for Matthew's school, nice to see teachers again and get more idea of school plans
• Rainbow Sponsored Trike Ride - I ended up riding Matthew's bike as a balance bike since he didn't want to join in
• Blood tests: my calcium, parathyroid hormone and vitamin D levels are all normal, but keep taking the vitamin D for now
• We did HBA1C as well, which is average blood sugar levels, also fine - I'm at slight risk due to Type 2 diabetes in family and current weight)
• Picnic lunch and playdate with Kirsten/Andre/Judith/Colin and Lammas Land - lots of fun
• Shelford Feast - Matthew enjoyed all the stalls and mini steam train and bouncy castles, I helped out on the Rainbow stall
• Eye Test for Matthew this morning: doing great, patching is helping his eyes work well together, ordered new lenses for his current glasses, next appointment in October half term
• Work appointed one interim head, who only stayed 2 days, and are now appointing again
• The "implementation" phase of Organisational Change is officially complete and we all now in theory have new jobs - but almost no management so not much actual change at the moment
• Total resignations now at 4 (Patrick, James, Stephen, Andrew) with possibility of more to come

Plus assorted bike rides, visits to the park, dyeing hair purple again and so on - and lots of lego :)

Coming up in the near future:

• Collect Matthew's school uniform (I see the school's admin at Pre-School and she's kindly said she'll bring it along for me)
• Early start tomorrow for Rainbow Leavers Trip to Wandlebury
• Rainbow end of term staff party tomorrow evening: as part of the committee I'm involved in helping host it
• Rainbow leaving party on Friday morning - last day of pre-school!
• A week in the lake district starting on Saturday
• Test riding a Circe Helios tandem when we get back
• Folk Festival on Sunday 30th - possibly with Matthew, possibly without
• New Interim Head of IT Group starts (phased in) on 1st August (Hi Julian)
• A week in Devon with family from 4th August - staying at Wortham Manor

In between the two weeks away Matthew will have a week at Hania's - and then when we get back he's got three weeks of holiday club before granny and grandad come to visit the first week in September, and then school starts on the 11th.

I think I know why I'm exhausted :)

Comments

[juliet]

Oh, the Ondewater looks neat -- I like the freewheel for the kid. I was thinking that when pulling out I'd prefer to be the one in the front, but I guess I managed fine on the Christiania so maybe not.

I do like the fact that the Helios goes all the way up to grown-up size, though. Partly because maybe we could still use it once Leon is off & out, but also because living where we do, and depending on when he hits pre-puberty/early puberty growth spurt, Leon might be quite large before I'd be happy with him riding on his own bike for all local journeys.

[lnr]

It is very cool, and I actually like the idea of continuing to have him in front, like I do on the bakfiets - it's actually a *lot* like the bakfiets to ride too. But that's in some ways a kind of down point, I'd quite like something that's more like riding a normal bike? And I like the idea of being able to take it on the train sometimes, and it being quicker to ride on to work with after dropping him at school.

Thankfully there's lots of places here he *can* ride, but equally lots of places he can't - and over 2 miles to school would be a bit too much at first I think even though he's getting close to riding that far on his own.

[juliet]

The Ondewater goes on the train, you mean? Cos the Helios definitely goes on trains, we have experimented extensively :)

I think at this age there is definitely a difference between *can* ride 2 miles and *will* (reliably!) ride 2 miles. Especially after a full day at school when small.

Leon & I sometimes go down to the library (over a mile but not as far as 2) with him riding on the pavement and me riding on the road, and at least once we went back with him shouting at me the whole way, basically because he was knackered. At least he *did* ride it (because I am not sure what I would have done otherwise!) but I left it for a couple of months after that before we tried again, and I've been more assiduous since about shovelling snacks into him before we head back.

[lnr]

I mean the Onderwater probably *doesn't* - so would be a point for the Helios. Mike and I are both going to try it next week though, so we'll see which is more fun. The Helios is cheaper!

And yes, I'd no way want to make him ride home when knackered. Slinging his bike in the box is great at the moment. And yay for snacks :)

We do that sort of riding quite a bit the mile into the village, usually with the balance bike rather than the pedal bike. We only tend to let him on road instead of pavement when it's very very quiet or with one-in-front one-behind parents :)

I think if they really really won't go you lock up the small bike, plonk him on the seat of the bigger one, and wheel him home?