lazy git

john74

ive been into biking for a long time. on and off for about 20 years. so i thought i would buy my 9 year old son a decent bike for christmas so i got him a giant xtc junior its better than anything i had when was a kid. but i made the mistake of getting him an xbox as well. so he uses the xbox all the time and has hardly touched the bike.
i dont want him to be put off the bike by forcing him to come out with me but i dont want him to turn into an obese couch potatoe either.
any suggestion on gently coaxing him out the front door apart from the obvious boot up the backside. :roll:

turpinr

john74 wrote:

ive been into biking for a long time. on and off for about 20 years. so i thought i would buy my 9 year old son a decent bike for christmas so i got him a giant xtc junior its better than anything i had when was a kid. but i made the mistake of getting him an xbox as well. so he uses the xbox all the time and has hardly touched the bike.
i dont want him to be put off the bike by forcing him to come out with me but i dont want him to turn into an obese couch potatoe either.
any suggestion on gently coaxing him out the front door apart from the obvious boot up the backside. :roll:

point at all the fat kids and tell him he'll end up like that if he doesn't get moving

john74

i tried that. he just says he will lose the weight then. :x

Flynny2010

I Suppose it's just a case of letting him see how much fun you have while your out and maybe he will entually feel like he wants to come. The more you force him the more unlikely it is he will go!

If that fails tell him he's grounded if he doesn't!!!! :twisted:

turpinr

hide the x-box or tell him you've been burgled

Harry182

Sounds like you need some quality father/son time. Take him out riding with you.

cat_with_no_tail

Meh, it's only mid-jan, the novelty of the x-box will soon wear off providing you dont keep buying him tons of games all the time.

Don't forget, the weather since Christmas has been pretty bIoody awful, I know plenty of ADULTS who've not been out riding in it, so you can't really expect a 9yr old to want to, especially if it's a choice between that or x-box.
He'll be more likely to want to get out on the bike as the weather continues to get better. Don't try forcing him though or you'll put him right off.

Are you wanting him specifically to come out with you, or just get out in general? Might be worth arranging to go for a ride with other dads and their kids of a similar age. At least that way he's got other kids to talk x-box with.

Oh, and what about taking him to Bike Radar Live in July. Father Son camping with added bikes. I know it's a while off, but it'll give you both something to look forward to.



Failing any of the above, strap the x-box to the back of your bike and tell him if he wants it, he can bIoody well come and get it

Atz

Just make it seem like fun. Talk about the good stuff, watch videos etc, get him sold on the idea.

turpinr

put the x-box in loot

bobthesuperstar

If you've got the wirless controllers, replace the batteries with dead ones and hide all the others in the house. When he goes to switch it on have the bikes out, ready and waiting. If you've got wired ones..........you're screwed!

*AL*

Job done

RockingDad

I limit the amount of time my lad has on his computer so he can get out and do something more interesting instead (any of you remember why don't you?).

Anyway... you can imagine how popular that was in the beginning but he would seriously spend his entire day on it if I let him. He gets an hour in the evening weekdays and longer during the weekends but we tend to do a lot of stuff as a family at the weekends so he isn't always in.

After a week or so of this other things seemed more interesting and he now costs me a fotune in Rugby, Karate, Cricket and everything else he plays / does (which I don't mind). He also now likes to get out on his bike as much as he can with me.

Get some of the kranked films, my lad would watch them all day and take him on some cross country rides on bridleways etc, concrete and tarmac is damn boring!

RockingDad

dave_hill

john74 wrote:

I got him a giant xtc junior...its better than anything i had when I was a kid. But i made the mistake of getting him an xbox as well. so he uses the xbox all the time and has hardly touched the bike.

You've spoiled him. It should have been the X-box OR the bike.

What was it, £275 for the bike and £149 for the X-Box? That's £424 FFS!! No kid is worth that much in presents.

The thing is you've taught him that he can sit on his harris and be rewarded for doing it. SO it's no wonder he's not interested in the bike.

Answers -

1. Make him smash the X-box and tell him that if he wants another, he's going to have to get a job to pay for it. After all, as a hard-working tax-payer you'll understand that money doesn't grow on trees and credit isn't as easy to get as it once was.

2. Point out that he's obese already (even if he isn't). Tell him he's going to have to get some exercise now or he'll be dead in a year.

3. On a more sensible note, get out with some other riders yourself and video the ride, then get them round, get the beers in and watch it back when your son's about. When he asks you what it is, tell him he wouldn't be interested and switch it off....and keep loads of other biking DVDs and watch them too, adopting the same tactics. I think that you can see where I'm going with this one...

You can't force him to do stuff he doesn't want to do. If you do he'll just resent you for it.

Rich9

Crikey, when you're 9, do you really want to go out biking when its snowing, and freezing cold, when you can play on an xbox.

Sledging may be, but not biking.

Give him chance, then if he still doesnt ride it, sell the bike :P You'll get what you've paid for it as the XTC is in demand are currently like rocking horse pap!

When the better weather comes he'll want to get out

Lakesman

9's a bit young especially to be dragged out in this frozen crud. what's would his range be, maybe 8 - 10 off road miles ?
racking my brains to think how much i rode at that age. only single figures surely.
get him moving come spring, but there really is plenty of time....

john74

thanks for the replies people. i know ive made a rod for my own back with the bloody xbox. some very good ideas here some a bit harsh( you know who you are). Her in doors had a good giggle at some of the replies. but seriously there is a couple i will try.

Deputy Dawg

Pay the kid a £ a mile to go towards new games. You'll be surprised how often he's out on the bike

ride_whenever

take the fuse out of the xbox. Claim it is broken, and take it off to get fixed.

Go biking a bit in the mean time, then bring it back.



I mean it is only a little lie, and i'm sure you lie to your kid, it's cruel not to.

Frostys

I wouldn't worry about him not using the bike at the mo... lets face it most bikes are wrapped up in warm garages for at least the next 8 weeks.

Wait until the weather warms up a bit and the trails dry out then get him on some flattish xc rides with a nice down hill at the end to spark up his interest.

I agree with the others though don't force it or he will resent it... try taking one of his mates as well