Bicycle Checklist

Sweet Cooper moved up in to a new classroom, with that came a little more responsibility from him to sit still and pay attention for longer periods of time and he was having a hard time with it. At this time, Cooper also decided he wanted a bicycle. It might have been a little advanced for a 3-year old, but we put together a plan for him to earn his bike. Cooper had a daily checklist and if he received all 4 checks at the end of each day, he received $1. Once he reached a goal of $20, we would help him buy his first bicycle (as a 3 year old having no concept of the cost of a bicycle and just so happened a neighbor whispered to us "does Cooper want a bike our son has grown out of his first one".....perfect timing). It took a little longer than 20 days to reach his goal, as there were some behavior gaps in there, but he did it. The last night of his checklist, I surprised him with a "Curious George rides a bike" book as a segway in to his final reward. The next day when he got home from school his very 1st bicycle was waiting for him with a shiny helmet he had previously picked out.

As he climbed on the bike, Cooper took on a new personality.....while riding the bike we were only to refer to Cooper as "Spiderman". He did awesome, took a few spills, but hopped right back on. The proud smile on his face was incredible. He rides it almost every day after school, we have attempted removing the training wheels, but not there yet.....no need to rush. We are proud of him learning the importance of his checklist items and pride in earning something himself:

-Good Report at School

-Be Kind to your brother

-Eat all of your dinner

-Respect

Here's a little clip of an excited little boy and his proud parents watching him burst with joy and pride (and do a perfect re-take on cue as a result of technical difficulties...he's pretty good at that):