"Duuuuuude...." I said, "it's a bit early, don'tcha think?"
Nope - he didn't. We made the deal on how it would play out and he happily ran out to the garage and opened the door to get his bike out. I got up to get my coffee, open the front door (so I could hear him) and open the blinds so I could see him.
He rode up and down the street. At that time of the morning, cars are non-existent out there so he had the time of his life.
"Mom?" he asked, "can I ride around the block."
*blink* *gulp* *thinking hard* *blink*
"Ummm......" *stalling as best I could* "what are the rules?"
"Watch for cars, be careful, look up, watch for cars, stay on the sidewalk on the busy street......ummm...watch for cars...and oh yeah....HAVE FUN!" He smiled big because that last one is always a "rule" when we go somewhere.
(By busy street it's just the arterial. Not a real busy street but it's the only place there is a sidewalk as you walk around our block (which is really a little more than two city blocks).)
"Can I? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase? I'll be careful."
*pleading little boy eyes*
*gulp* Here we go. Breathe. Remember how you were thinking that at his age you were riding all over the place, alone and with friends. No one even knew where you were. He's nine. NINE. He needs to spread his wings. He is nine. You have raised him well. Everyone says so.
*deep breath in.......* "Ok." I will be standing right here when you get back. You have 5 minutes."
He flashed that amazing smile at me and raced off.
He came back all smiles and full of pride. "I only fell twice!"
That's my boy. Back up he stood, dusted himself off and got back on the bike. The same bike he swore upside down and backwards he would *never* ride again just last fall. I have taught him well. Stand back up and get back to it.
He spent the rest of the morning, until the bus arrived, riding his bike up and down the street pretending to be a middle schooler on his way to school.
A little kid no more.
***side note about Kaylen: She has decided that she is not ready "just yet" to be without her training wheels. I put them back on for her and she will, as she put it, learn her bike street safety first and take her wheels off later. Sounds like a fair deal to me. See? I am even doing a good job with her. She knows herself and knows what she feels ready for and not. She isn't ready right now and that is just fine with me. :)
1 comment:
About Kaylen, I wanted to tell you my boys only took off their training wheels in the last month, at over 6.5 years old. We tried last fall but they were scared and just didn't want it enough, and weren't ready... but they got there on their own timeline.
And every trip around the block (on sidewalks, and in a quiet little neighborhood) makes me nervous if I think too much about it...
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