The dark side of bike rides

I bragged over the summer about how awesome my kids are at going for long bike rides. But of course, sometimes things go wrong.

The sun came out for a couple of hours yesterday, so Jeremy and I had a grand plan to go for one of our favorite bike rides, with an extra bit through some pretty forest and farmland area.

WELL. One out of the three kids gave us no trouble at all. The other two got ready to go happily enough, and bundled up well enough, and started out well enough, but a few kilometers in, they were just not having it. Tears were shed. "I want to go home" was stated. Bikes were stopped in protest. Not-that-steep hills were walked up out of sheer spite instead of ridden up.

Meanwhile, Jeremy and I were desperately trying to salvage the ideal bike ride we'd planned that morning. It was gorgeous outside. We caught snatches of the view and soaked it in as best we could between repeatedly talking the kids down from various ledges. Ah, children.

Do you ever do that thing where, the more your kids complain, the firmer you hold to the decision to complete whatever it is they're complaining about? Like, we weren't on that bike ride to prove any point, at least not at first. But that's what it became. It must be a parent thing - bike rides are sometimes hard, just like life. I want my kids to overcome that difficulty or ride through the pain, rather than just give up and turn around. It was a character-building exercise by the end and I had BECOME Calvin's dad.

(Also, there was the fact that when you are 7km into a bike ride...you have a 7km bike ride home. There is no magic escape button.)

And we made it! Hot chocolate and glöggi were enjoyed at the halfway point by all.