This is a little holiday cheer for everyone.
When you are out finishing up your last minute shopping and the line ups are making you crazy, when you’re wrapping and you feel like there is no end to the pile of presents or you have lost the tape for the umpteenth time, when your kids hit that christmas hysteria that is bound to happen at least once this week, when you need a laugh, I want you to think of this:
"
All of our kids are very active and they love being outdoors, so when I was asked to review Kick Scooters, I was happy to do so and thrilled that it would solve our current 2:3 scooter to kid ratio at our house.
Research is the key to any good product review, so I went to the website to find out what I could.
These scooters are huge in Europe. They are Swiss engineered and designed, but manufactured in Asia (Under strict quality control) where they produce more than 6,000 kick boards a DAY!
All of the Kick products are made to be user friendly and promote a healthy, active lifestyle starting with the youngest member of your family.
Being the professional that I am, I thought I should assemble a panel of experts to help me with my research.
Here they are:
Name: Rebecca
Age: 5 (and a half)
Occupation: Part-time kindergartner, part-time gymnast, full-time funky chick and occasional tom boy
Comments: “I like that it has 2 types of handles. I like the ball handle, it’s easy to use”
Name: Ethan
Age: 8
Occupation: Full-time grade 3 student, verging on full-time hockey player, total jock, and wanna be skate boarder
Comments: “I like the Maxi Kick, it’s like a skateboard”
Name: Eleanor
Age: 10
Occupation: Full-time grade 5 student, part-time swimmer, tweenie bopper, and accomplished toy destroyer
Comments: “I like both scooters, but I’m too big for the Mini Kick. I like the way they turn”
I knew I would also need an engineer:
Name: Tom (AKA Daddy)
Age: Old as dirt
Occupation: Chief Pooper-Scooper, light bulb changer, lawn mower and, of course, toy assembler
Turns out I didn’t need him, it was as simple as pop the handle bar in and go! (He did it for me though)
It was chilly this weekend, and Eleanor was slightly under the weather, but we trekked outside to give the scooters a try. I told Eleanor she could sit this one out if she wanted, but she was too excited to miss it.
Rebecca was up first, and she took a spin on the *Mini Kick. She took to it like a duck to water. The kick scooters are very low to the ground, and have two front tires making it easy for even the youngest kids to keep their balance. I like that it stands up on its own and won’t be left lying on the garage floor.
Ethan went next on the *Maxi Kick. He was excited about the steering. You don’t turn the handles like other scooters, but rather move the handle bar from side to side (it’s called lean-to-steer). He also liked how wide the board was and likened it to being on a skateboard because he could ride it sideways.
Eleanor went next on the Maxi Kick. She likes that they are brightly coloured. After riding it, she went straight to her Christmas list and added a Maxi Kick (in yellow). Thankfully, it comes in a variety of colours.
Tom liked how little time it took to put them together, and I liked that it got the kids outside burning off some energy. Also, they have non-marking wheels, so I didn’t freak out when they weren’t ready to stop playing with them once we were inside.
In true parent style, I asked how the braking system worked, the girls said it was good, easy to use. Ethan said “There’s a brake?”
Both, the Mini Kick and the Maxi Kick got the thumbs up at our house.
Erica suggested that I tell the kids that I had to give the scooters back, and then surprise them with them for Christmas, but I see that causing a very un-festive fight. I’m back to that 2:3 scooter to kid ratio. No-one is going to want to ride the old scooters now.
This month we're giving away two Maxi Kick 3-wheeled Scooters - each valued at $174! Click to enter...
*Mini Kick is good for up to 25 kg
*Maxi Kick is good for up to 50kg
I’m not sure that everyone believes the saying “Giving is better than receiving”, but I do believe that that my step-daughter learned a little bit about it this weekend.
You see, she has been getting an allowance for taking care of the cat. Every week, she gets $5 and when she gets to $20, Tom takes her to the bank and she puts it in her bank to deposit it. This week, she had $20, but she had different plans for her money.
She asked Tom and I if she could use her money to go to the dollar store to buy Christmas presents. Normally, we tell her to save her money, but this time we thought it could be a pretty cool experience for her to spend her money.
She was concerned that if I went with her to the store that I might see what she was purchasing, so we made a deal that she could go to the dollar store while I was grocery shopping. The local mall is right across the street from the dollar store, so we agreed she could walk across and go to the mall too. She had Tom’s phone in case there were any problems.
So, we pulled up to the dollar store, and I gave her the last minute pep talk. You know, be careful, don’t talk to strangers etc. I also gave her $8 more (that’s what was in my purse) for being so thoughtful. Then I left her there.
I drove away, and I went to do my groceries. I was a little nervous, I have to admit, but I guess you have to let go sometime.
Eleanor called me when she was finished at the dollar store to let me know she was heading to the mall. Then she phoned me to say she had arrived safely at the mall. I was almost finished my groceries, so I said I would meet her there and I would phone when I got there.
We met in the food court, and she was so very happy. She had a shopping bag full of gifts for everyone in the family including the dog. She showed me some of her treasures, and kept some secret. She said it was the most fun she had ever had, and that Christmas Shopping was her favourite thing EVER!
At dinner, Tom asked Eleanor what she had liked about Christmas shopping, and she said “I like spending money!” Whoa, we were a little disappointed, so I asked her what it was about spending the money that she liked, and she said “Buying things for other people makes me feel good”. PHEW! Thought we were in trouble there.
I can’t wait to see the kids faces Christmas morning when they unwrap all their presents, but most of all, I can’t wait to see how proud Eleanor’s face is when we open hers.
Printer-friendly version