Vino had an extended holiday on this day, so I had to think of ways to keep him off his tablet for some parts of the day, at least.
Like on most days with no classes, I let Vino sleep in, but he got up around 8AM so there wasn’t really much to do in the morning other than cook for them.
In the afternoon, I got Vino to try out his bike so that we could practice riding it without balancers. Not sure where he got it, but over the past couple of years, Vino has been expressive about being scared to try new experiences.
Maybe it’s classmates, maybe it’s what he sees on YouTube. Either way, I kind of have to push him to do some things.
I took off the balancers of his bike and had him try it out on this spacious part of the HDB block that I recently discovered. He walked slowly, but I assured him I’ll be there all the way.
What we concluded though, was that the bike was too small for him already. So the learning will have to wait another day.
Before we went up, we went by a playground that he said he wanted to play in first.
After getting up the playground, he said he wanted to get down because he didn’t want to cross the plank-like contraption to get to the next part of the playground. I had to convince him that it’s made for 5-year-olds so it shouldn’t be a problem for him.
His knees looked shaky, but at least he tried to cross it.
Next, he didn’t want any part of the rope tunnel thing. A little girl managed to cross it with a smile on her face and Vino said the girl was small so she could easily do it.
My big belly and I had to go up the thing to show him that it was possible to go through it even for a bigger person.
He did the whole course at least twice more after that before we went to the swings.
I’ve always hovered around Vino, maybe to a fault. But I think he was more adventurous when he was younger than now when he is more capable.
Taking on the challenge of riding a bike with no balancers and getting through the playground obstacles are just a couple of life skills I want him to have. Of course, he may not need to cross a rope bridge at any point in his life, but it would be nice to know that he at least would go through it if he does.
With food, I always try to make him taste new things even if he says he doesn’t want to. Because like the playground, he may get to like it after he actually tries it.
I believe Vino just needs a little push sometimes, and I promised myself to always be there if and when he needs that push.
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