I’ve decided to devote some of this weekend to getting Jack to use his new scooter.

Having been absolutely thrilled when he unwrapped it on Christmas Day, he’s always been really keen to ride it around the house. Unfortunately, he’s less inclined to take it outdoors.

Personally, I think the main problem has been that Jack is somewhat risk averse, particularly when it comes to going uphill or downhill on wheels.

Don’t get me wrong, he loves to play with his scooter around the house. We even managed to get him to bring it to the park with him on Boxing Day. I’m also told that scooters are among his favourite toys – within the confines of the nursery playground, that is.

With the exception of our trip to the park though, all of these environments have very flat, level surfaces. There is also a noticeable absence of the scooter’s bigger, faster, four-wheeled adversary, the motorcar, which is all too apparent when scooting alongside them on the pavement.

The thing is Jack is quite a compliant boy. It took him little time to master the brake pedal on the scooter once I’d shown him where it was, and he has no issues with wearing his safety helmet either. However, I think he may be taking my instruction to ‘be safe, stay away from the roads, and be careful going down hills’ a little too seriously.

I must admit, his refusal to play with his scooter outside is a bit of a break from tradition though. He loved riding his Wheelybug sit-on ladybird around our patio, and he thoroughly enjoyed being wheeled along on his tricycle ‘shopping’ at the local newsagents. I highly recommend both of these to any parent, by the way.

When it comes to his scooter though, I’m beginning to wonder if the real reason is that he’s less comfortable travelling on the pavement when he’s not sitting down. Maybe he feels more vulnerable? Less in control? Either of these are possibilities.

Anyway, this weekend will see dad, mum and Jack all heading off to the park, scooter in tow. Wish us luck!