You know how you buy someone the perfect present, something you are sure they will love, and you imagine their reaction? The excitement, the delight that you had gotten something so totally cool for them? If you have foster kids, be prepared to dial it back.
We started considering getting them bikes/trikes around the end of February, since they had started noticing them. Thing 1 routinely mentioned the bike and scooter he'd had at Aunty's. We ordered a 2 wheeler with training wheels for the very tall Mr. Thing 1 and a Ninja Turtle (Minger Tootools) Big Wheel for Thing 2. When they arrived I put them together in the basement after they went to bed. We then smuggled them upstairs and outside along with their new helmets and the next day told them we had a surprise for them, got them in jackets and shoes and took them to the patio.
They ran out, and both went for the Big Wheel. We redirected Thing 1 to the "big boy bike," which he checked out for a moment, then said "where's the surprise?" Uh, okay. So once he figured out that the bike was a surprise, we put him on it. He couldn't work it, which we figured would be the case, but he got frustrated immediately, since he was watching his brother use the Big Wheel very successfully, plus realizing that it had sounds and a toy CB radio. Crash. And. Burn.
No amount of coaxing would get him to focus and learn to use his bike. We finally had to put the bikes away after about an hour since every time our backs were turned he would take the Big Wheel from his brother, or coerce him to give it over.
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