Quite a few years ago, I saw these funny looking bikes that didn’t have pedals. The theory of these pedal-less bikes was explained to me. The kids push themselves along, lifting their feet and gaining a sense of balance faster than they would using the traditional ‘learning to ride a bike’ methodology. This all made a lot of sense to me.

At that time, I had a little tot who I thought would benefit from having one of these fancy little wooden European bikes. Then I saw the price tag and quickly threw some training wheels on an old two-wheeler in the garage because she was about to outgrow her tricycle.

Fast forward to kid number five who is an active three-year-old. Over the last couple of years, these little bikes have become more mainstream and, fortunately, significantly cheaper.

I reached out to the owner of Strider Canada with a few questions about her product and, satisfied with the product information and customer service, I placed my order. That bike arrived and my three-year-old has not been off it since.

Spending money on your fifth kid is a bit painful – when you have six kids, you hope that the last couple will be able to manage with the purchases you made in your earlier career as a mother. However, I have not regretted spending 100 bucks on a Strider for a split second. In addition to loving his bike because he can go fast and balance, my little guy also enjoys something that is very important to a fifth kid: his bike looks the same as the bikes the big kids in the family are riding.

Other good news is that when he outgrows it, the bike will be passed along to kid #6 – and judging by how awesome he rides that thing now, I’m guessing he’ll be on a traditional two-wheeler by the end of this summer at the ripe old age of three-and-a-half years old.

Here’s my kid riding his Strider before even getting dressed for the day!