About 6 months ago, Nathan and I were losing our minds because our sleep kept being interrupted. I was in the early, exhausting months of morning sickness and needed all the rest I could get. Nathan was at the end of school and about to graduate, working full-time, of course. Every night, Annalee or Vander or both would get up several times a night. (Bellana slept straight through for 12 hours. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed her to be a good sleeper with how much she wears me out every day. Thank you, God!) We tried several things that didn't work and finally, in desperation, I made a deal with the two oldest that if they made it all the way through the night without waking us up (including not waking us up in the morning before 7:00) they would get a mark on a chart. After 20 marks, I would buy them a scooter.
It took several months for them to earn the scooters. I'm not sure if the incentive really helped or if they would have eventually gotten better at sleeping anyway. But they finally earned their scooters. Then it took another month or two for me to find a scooter that I could afford and that was the right size. (The Frozen scooter I bought first for Annalee was too short.) This is the one she ended up with. (It adjusts taller.)
She loved the tassels on the handlebars!
Vander's was a little trickier, as the preschool scooters were more expensive. One day we stumbled across a faded red one at a garage sale and bought it for $3. Then I spent HOURS putting painters tape around the wheels. We painted it purple and silver. Purple is Vander's favorite color. He loves it!
Annalee bought some roller blades last year. She doesn't use them very often but recently she's been practicing a lot more and has gotten pretty good. Vander was so jealous and I found some for him at a garage sale. They were several sizes bigger than he is, but he didn't care and started using them right away.
Then Bellana became obsessed and would put her siblings' skates on at every opportunity, but of course they were much, much too big for her. I found some at Walmart that slip on over her shoes and she was in heaven!
I think she looks so much older when she's wearing them.
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