As someone who had to provide all my childcare receipts to CRA recently, I assure you, Mr Ford, there is lots of scrutiny to go around, for much smaller chunks of change.

Hear, hear!

I don’t really blame the kids — the ones acting like that needed their horizons broadened, and their adults weren’t doing it. But those kids are grown ups now and they’re voting and shaping policy.

Yeah, I was definitely being too spicy with my reply to that kid — truth was we lived in a nice place and I had a good childhood, but the confidence that everyone just desperately wanted to be them got to me regularly. I got tired of answering “did you have electricity in Canada?” etc.

Oh, when the SP movie came out kids would follow me around singing “Blame Canada”. I didn’t watch South Park so it was confusing and upsetting.

In an art class another kid asked me if I was grateful we moved to the “land of opportunity” and I replied, “I hate it here and I can’t wait to go home.”

Hahaha! When we moved to Iowa in Grade 4 I was caught reading under my desk during Social Studies and I told my teacher I didn’t need to learn American Social Studies because I was Canadian. 😂😭

We learned about their Civil War just about every year. You would think nothing else had ever happened!

I would join the choirs I don’t have time to be part of, and read, and finally figure out how to garden, and knit for myself and my family.

Oh, they did.

I was by that time homeschooled and no longer in that choir, but I absolutely would have refused to sing that.

My friends in the choir had no idea why I cringed so hard when they told me what they were going to another country to sing.

Every so often I remember that when I was a (Canadian) teen in Iowa our local public high school did a choir tour to Southern Ontario and “God Bless the USA” (“Proud to be an American”) was the cornerstone of their concert rep.

This was around 2004, during “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

Al lyricism: José González co-wrote song with ChatGPT on new album In an interview with Far Out, González explained his approach to Al, and said that he is "curious about this new technology".

i’m now curious about never playing his music in the bookstore again

Yes!!! Such a pain!

It’s unlikely you’d find coaster brakes on a 24”, but watch out for it on 20” bikes!

Coaster brakes aren’t the worst, but learning hand brakes is an important skill, and the braking-when-pedalling backwards thing can be confusing when learning anyhow.

Something I forgot to add: You want to make sure any bike you buy has both front and rear brakes, activated from the handlebars. Some of the 20” bikes you see might come with “coaster” brakes, activated by pedalling backwards.

It is that time of year when no matter what you wear it’s wrong for the weather!

knobby* tires, apparently. I knew that didn’t look right. 😂

Mtbs often have nobbly tires, which increase rolling resistance and can feel sluggish and noisy on asphalt. If you find a frame you like, however, you can probably find smoother tires that fit the same rims.

I’d recommend avoiding at bike with a suspension (that adds unnecessary weight), and keep gearing to a minimum (although you may want some since kiddo will probably fit the bike for a while and their comfort will grow.)

Just between those choices, for a learner I’d go with the MTB, mainly because of the handlebar/braking configuration. The road bike will probably feel more tippy and twitchy with the narrow handlebars, and the brakes and gear shifters will be different than most city/gravel/mtb setups.

Really excited about this! We’re planning to go as often as we can.

Okay, that is a deadly recital title. 😂

Shoot, I hoped they still had that one! They did in the fall so it’s recent; there might be some used ones around?

Used is such a great way to get bikes, especially for kids, and the price is easier to swallow.

When we got P’s EarlyRider that way I was so glad someone else had already banged it up a bit, haha! Pebble is already mourning the first dings on her new bike. It happens!

Aww, thanks!

I worried she’d be sad to say goodbye to one of her old bikes but she was aglow when she saw its new owner taking it for a ride! 🥹

(I defer to @envirojen.bsky.social, though! She knows so much more!)

Pebble was so psyched about the tune-ups! She wanted to make sure everyone knew about them! 💜

Decathlon is also a nice price point. Good kids bikes can be pricey!

Gold standard are Frog, Woom, or EarlyRider bikes, which are nice and light but $$$ and hard to find in Canada. If you see one used that you want, snap it up, and let me know, and I’ll help get it to you!

This is so exciting!

We recently had a 20” Siech bike delivered from Allo Vélo in Montreal. Shipping was free!

I have also really liked Decathlon’s kids bikes! We went with Siech because we wanted gears, but for a first bike that’s probably not your priority. They’re sturdy but not bulky.

An illustration from a Madeline children’s book, in black, white, and butter yellow. A young girl with a bow on her head is standing on a chair below two cris-crossed French flags and a sculpture with a trumpet. She has a tear on her cheek and is pointing vengefully in the air.

“Scritchy, noblest raccone in France [Halifax], you will have your VEN-GE-ANCE!”