Cycling with Rachel

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I had quite a Rachel-centric day today. Rachel’s our 8 going on 18 year old, a very knowing, witty and fun little girl to be around. She’s definitely picked up my sarcastic streak, and had a great knack of using it to comic effect.

First off, I came down to start breakfast with the kids. We’re trying to be better about getting up on time on weekend mornings, because the kids often slope downstairs and stuff themselves while we sleep. I mentioned in passing that I was going for a cycle, and Rachel invited herself along.

We saddled up our bikes and headed out into the country. There’s a nice, circuit that takes us out past the fields and back into town. We come back in via the biggest shop in town and pick up a paper. I was really impressed with how well she did. No stopping for breaks, no struggling with the uphills. I’d actually chosen a shorter route, thinking she wouldn’t be able for it, but damn the little girl did good!

She babbled the whole way around, which is one of the best things about doing one-on-one activities with your kids. And when we go this particular route, she always remembers a day when she was tantruming like a pro. I took her for a long walk and it really calmed her down. So now she thinks nature has fantastic relaxing properties. She might be right.

When we got back, we got stuck into our latest project. Yes, after too many hours of watching iCarly, coupled with watching her mum and dad blogging, Rach wanted to start her own website. We agreed to sit down and work out a domain name and set her up with a website. So, we sat in front of a domain name checker and thought up a few ideas. Once we came up with a good one, we registered it and then mucked about on some fonts websites looking for something cool for her ‘logo’.

It sounds ill-conceived, but we’ve had a talk with her about online security. What we’re going to do is allow her to write articles: book reviews, research and things like that. All those odd questions that crop up in her little head – she can research the answers and write an article for other people to read. It’ll be fun for her and educational. It might even form part of our plan for keeping the kids amused during the summer holidays!

Back to my main point though, which is that one on one time with the kids is a precious thing. I’m going to try cycling out with Jay as well to see how he fares. It could be a good way to keep fit and keep the kids busy. Plus, when you’re out of the house with them, away from distractions like that, they open up to you and talk about everything with you. It’s great!