A friend's parents, whist said friend was at work as was wife, looking after the young kid, decided, without asking, to teach him to ride his bike.
In one session! I'd be ****ing seething
Probably depends a little on the context, like is your pal a cyclist himself, (as a mate of yours I assume so!) has he made excited statements about teaching the kid to ride, is the kid actually 19 years old?
Personally yeah I'd be absolutely pissed off.
Yeah, I'd be annoyed. Although I remember making a big thing about taking my lads stabilisers off when we were on holiday 20 years ago...and having that moment.
I took his bike off the rack, went ro find his stabilisers (that I'd took off for the journey), looked around and the little ****er was off down the campsite.
They like in the Netherlands
It's part of life
He's 3
Grand parents are behaving like bell ends
I took his bike off the rack, went ro find his stabilisers (that I'd took off for the journey), looked around and the little ****er was off down the campsite.
🤣 That's actually quite funny.
Thinking about it, I actually helped teach my mum and dad's pals son to ride his bike when I was a young teenager, but his dad is honestly a bit ****ing useless. We also were at a campsite in France.
Grand parents are behaving like bell ends
Ah, yes, certainly sounds like it. ☹️
Kids on bikes rock. 🤘
This trumps everything in the situation.
No it doesn't matt, certain boundaries should not be crossed
I'm failing to see the controversy. Lads grandparent passes on a basic skill.
They knew that the parents wanted to do it, they knew the importance, they behaved like Dicks
Who gaf?, if the parents were that bothered they would have taught him.
I can’t see a problem if it’s done in a safe manner. It’s more important that the child learns how to enjoy one of life’s great skills. I’m teaching my grandson, is that ok?
Only if the parents say so imo
Grand parents are behaving like bell ends
But providing free child care? Whilst constrained by strict, possibly unspoken "rules" which limit their level of interaction with their grandkids?
We taught our nephew at that age without his parents consent.
It would have been easier had granny bought him a balance bike earlier (a Christmas gift), rather than the awful cheap 'postman Pat' bike that came with stabilisers, but no they didn't want to listen to the cyclists in the family. 'We've always had a bike with stabilisers so that's what he's getting'.
I wouldn't give it a second thought and I'm sure our two girls would be of the same opinion
If in Loco Parentis there are lots of activities that we supervise/teach/encourage our grandson to try. Cooking, stacking logs, insect hunting, safe use of power tools, playing in mud. What does it matter if it’s someone other than parents? It sounds like the parents are being mardy, hopefully that’s a life skill they won’t pass on!
I can understand the disappointment and frustration but it's not worth holding a grudge or [traditional STW act of revenge here].
if the parents were that bothered they would have taught him.
Exactly
They like in the Netherlands
It's part of life
He's 3
Grand parents are behaving like bell ends
How are the grandparents behaving like bell ends?
Given your response to this there is only one bell end that I see?, and it's not ding-a-ling-ling
To expand on my slightly facetious earlier comment I see it like this. If the parents felt really strongly about this beforehand. If they expressly said something like "would you mind not teaching him to ride, as this is something important to us which we'd very much like to share with him", then the GPs were out of order. The parents would be entitled to feel a little miffed.
If it wasn't made crystal clear like that, but they were just expecting the GPs to somehow realise their unspoken wishes, then tough titty. I don't think the GPs did anything wrong.
Kid can now ride a bike, big win, move on
Do they have to have permission to teach them everything else? I’m also in the camp of if it was that important they would should have done it themselves by now. It’s not like they introduced them to coke and hookers already, unless they live in Amsterdam and did.
My "score" getting kids to ride is about 13, with one failure (I fell on him ... don't ask).
Several were without one or either of their parents being present, usually after I'd been asked to help by one of them (usually the mum).
One was a distant relative on holiday to the UK, who weren't fussed, and still aren't, about it.
There's only one other I think would have been peeved about it. Neither parent was there, they were neighbours at the time. My 3 kids all riding around our close, she asked if she could try, and it took about 10 minutes and a pack of haribo to sort her out as she was "ready". I did ask her to keep it secret and I did later tell the mum.
I did hear that her dad claimed the success a few weeks later, and I'm very happy he did. But I'm also happy to have helped.
bikerevivesheffield have you been drinking? Because honestly this:
How are the grandparents behaving like bell ends?
Given your response to this there is only one bell end that I see?,
They knew that the parents wanted to do it, they knew the importance, they behaved like Dicks
So why hadn't the parents actually got off their arses and done it? It patently obviously wasn't that important to them after all. And if the gramps manage to teach him in one session then it was clearly well overdue.
I might be slightly miffed with myself for not having found the time myself to do it but other than that I’d be grateful they used the time spent with their grandson to do something constructive. So I’m standing with the grandparents.
When our kids were younger we knew someone up the road with kids of a similar age who dropped their kids off with the grandparents on a Friday evening and picked them up again on a Sunday afternoon. We always thought that was a strange thing to do (weekends being the best time with the kids), but what particularly stood out was how they had no idea how lucky they were to have such support as it was something that had happened when they were kids, so it was normalised. We, on the other hand, had to compromise on working hours and pay £££ for nursery when we were both working. If we'd been able to even have the odd day or two here and there where our parents could look after our kids we wouldn't have batted an eyelid over something like this, we would have appreciated the support.
Don't think I'd be that bothered tbh. Teaching our daughter to get the stabilisers off was especially tedious and would have quite happily outsourced that one 🙂 the rides you have when they can ride properly are way more fun than the learning phase.
They knew that the parents wanted to do it, they knew the importance, they behaved like Dicks
As said up there, if your mate had specifically said that he wanted to teach the kid himself, and please can they not do it then fair enough it's a bit of a cheek. However, if he just said "I want to teach tarquin to ride his bike" then they were probably doing him a favour, getting a job done for him. Now he can take the kid on "bike adventures" instead
I want to service a couple of bikes this weekend but, if you're free, ...
I wouldn’t care if my parents taught my kids to ride a bike. They managed to teach me and I’m dumb as hell.
Now my in-laws trying to teach my son and daughter is different as they’d be terrible at it (and probably tell my daughter that girls shouldn’t ride bikes.
I’ve had great fun teaching them, but it’s not like it’s a one and done thing so plenty of time to teach them the rest of it. I’m having way more fun teaching my 6 year old monsters to ride down steps, off tiny drops and preparing them for some Green action in Avoriaz and the PDS next summer than I ever did teaching them to pedal their cranks “forward, no the other way, the other way!”
My guess, grandparents at end of their tether trying to keep him amused, read all the stories they can, can't face more peppa pig, decide to ride bikes cos what else is there to do...
If it was that important to the parents, they should have pulled a joint sickie and done it themselves.
They sound pathetic tbh.
The kind of parent that would get upset by that is the kind of parent who is going to make the whole thing a great big big bundle of misery.
What a happy memory to have, your grandparents teaching you how to ride. My grandad Taught me how to tie my shoe laces, and my Nanna me how to place a bet on the grand national.
They are both gone and a miss them, bit i have happy memories like that, for which i am grateful.
Why would you rob them of that?
Parents need to grow up a bit (a lot) and be glad they've got such helpful family members who not only look after the kids but proactively engage with them. Really pathetic!
Well future, free, childcare can be declined if it’s that much of an issue
The kind of parent that would get upset by that is the kind of parent who is going to make the whole thing a great big big bundle of misery.
This. I used to see it on the married quarters. Dad's losing their top because the kid is scared or struggling to pedal one of those cheap, heavy 'kids' bikes.
Usually ends with tears and tantrums.
thought this was a jokey post to start with, reading through it it appears not.
id be thrilled to bits if my parents had taught our kids to ride a bike whilst we were at work. and as grandparents ourselves we would have been thanked if we had taught our grandkids to ride. latest grandaughter picked it up really quickly, from razzing about on a balance bike to just balancing on a normal bike and there was never any thought from anyone that we shouldnt be taking her out to practice.
If I was a grandparent, I would love to teach the grandkids how to ride. Not just that, I would love to be involved in teaching them skills to ride trails, if they were keen. Isn't that the deal with grandparent daycare anyway. They just do all the cool stuff then hand them back to the parents for the mundane stuff.
My (much older) sister taught me to ride, for which I think my then very busy working parents were extremely grateful.
I think the parents here really need to get a bit more perspective.
What a lovely connection to have to your grandparents.
Isn't that the deal with grandparent daycare anyway. They just do all the cool stuff then hand them back to the parents for the mundane stuff.
Yup. Same with being an uncle only you get to teach them stuff to annoy the parents. My favourite was how to make a drumkit from pots and pans 😎
