Of course they made a Peloton bike for kids

I came across an article recently about the Little Tikes Pelican, aka a toy Peloton bike. As articles tend to do these days, it was attempting to spur some controversy. Kids shouldn’t be using stationary bikes with apps and screens - get them outside! Have them meet their neighbors!** Kids shouldn’t be learning to just “burn calories.”

I’m also not a fan of the kid-sized Peloton, but for a different reason. Actually, the reason I disapprove is the exact reason one person in the article cites as being a positive: kids can cycle alongside their parents in a fun “family bonding” activity.

I am all for fun family bonding, and all the better if it also includes physical activity. And children are naturally curious about what the adults in their life are doing, what occupies their time. After all, we don’t critique the Fisher Price Barista Set (check out this picture!) or the multitude of cell phone inspired toys for infants. (Well, maybe we do critique those cell phones a little, if they make noise.) So what better way to connect with your child than while you’re both participating in a healthy activity together, each on your own stationary bike?

But an informal, unscientific survey tells me one of the advantages of the Peloton or any other at home exercise is the opportunity to squeeze personal time into a tightly packed daily routine. In other words, a parent’s Peloton time, treadmill time, or YouTube Yoga class may very well be the only time during the day when they are not working and also not asked to wipe a runny nose/poopy butt or help with a puzzle or spell a word or fix a toy. In other other words, maybe this is the only 20 minutes they get to not have to take care of anyone besides themselves.

The expectation that parents should want to spend every waking moment bonding with their children is the problem here. The idea that children’s interest in their parents’ activities needs to be met with a child appropriate alternative so as to include the child constantly means parents, who already don’t get much of a break, are assuming a childcare responsibility during a time when they would otherwise be engaged in their own self care. Because you know it's not going to be a simple each doing our own thing situation and before long you'll be sorting out whatever weird bug popped up or whatever urgent question popped into your kid’s head.

Let your exercise time, your video games, your bath or shower, your phone call with a friend, your cup of hot cocoa be YOURS.

This is not to say don’t include your children in your life: truthfully, most of the parents I talk to don’t need to hear that message. But including your children in your life does not mean never having a moment to yourself. Instead of your exercise time, your relaxation time, your much needed downtime, find a different activity to include your kids in - raking leaves, washing dishes, talking to a different friend at a different time, responding to emails. (Yes, for some kids, even work: I’ve met many a preschooler who loves to take notes beside me, on their own chair, with their own clipboard. It takes practice to have more distance – the first ask is often to talk to me, to write on my paper – but with a little encouragement, we can each do our work independently, at least for a little while.)

Or perhaps having your kid join you on a stationary bike while you both pedal away is what allows you to have a nap or a long chat with a friend or read a book in peace at another time of day. In which case, I say go for it!