Matt & Preston are 2 years and 2 weeks apart.  Being the oldest, Matt has obviously gotten all of his stuff – toys, clothes, whatever, brand new.  Preston, being the second and a boy, has obviously gotten a LOT of hand-me-downs throughout his life.  I never minded passing down the clothes or toys…I mean, why not?!  The thing is though, the boys are getting to an age where they want (and seem to appreciate) things of their OWN.

Today we brought home Matt’s birthday present (5 days early) – we bought him a new bike.  It is totally awesome (pics to follow in a more fun post) and it was time, as he has totally outgrown his old one (had to go from 16″ to 20″!!).  Matt loves his bike and rides it all the time.  Until recently (read:today), Preston has not had a bike of his own; he’s been more of a use-his-feet or big wheel kind of kid.  Apparently, what we assumed was a lack of interest was more a lack of opportunity/availability.  As sson as Matt got on his new bike and we put a helmet on Preston, he was riding Matt’s old bike like a champ!!

Here’s the conundrum (were you starting to wonder when I was going to get to the point already?!)….tonight, before bed, Preston started crying about how he wanted the orange bike to be his birthday present.  Honestly, I was pretty surprised! He never said word one while Matt was checking it out or riding it or anything! And never a word while riding Matt’s old bike or even after we came in!!

I have to admit, even though there is nothing major wrong with Matt’s old bike (other than it being as beat up as a 2 year old kid bike gets), I feel pretty bad about not bringing home a new bike for Preston, too.  It’s not like it’s a random purchase, it was a birthday present – and Preston knows his birthday is in a couple of weeks (they DO share a birthday party still!).  But I am torn – because while on the one hand I think he deserves a new bike all his own, on the other hand I think there’s nothing wrong with the used bike and he should suck it up.

What do YOU think?