Just Have Fun

Kai,

Remember Alex from the playground the other evening when you and Mommy went for a bike ride at Sexsmith? He's about 3 or 3.5 years old with a bike that had training wheels?! You two were the youngest kids on the playground that night with other 5- to 10- year-olds who had shiny cool bikes. As soon as Alex stepped on the playground, you went over to say hi. You said excitedly, "I have a bike, and you have a bike, too." Alex looked at your bike and laughed, "How come your bike doesn't have pedals? That's so weird!"

Because I know how much you love your bike, and I'm your mom and my job is to protect you from ANY potential harm (even when the harm was a 3-year-old boy with curly blonde hair and a mousy voice), my body was instantly pumped with adrenaline and I wanted to say to little Alex, "Google it, you little weirdo. This is the newest thing called Strider. It doesn't have pedals because he needs to gain his sense of balance through pushing the bike with his feet so that he won't have to rely on loser wheels... like you." (okay, and I may or may not think about adding a little "Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah" at the end for effect)

But I didn't (OF COURSE I didn't).

I wanted to see how you'd react to his comment, and you didn't let that stick at all. "I have a bike, and you have a bike, too!" you repeated. "Let's race!"

"My bike has pedals," Alex said, "it's faster than yours." "My bike's faster!" you said happily, "Watch this!" and you took off! I filmed you and cheered you on as you looped around the playground. Little Alex remained in the same spot and just watched you. As you were flying back to where he was, he got all nervous, turned his body away from you and said, "Nooooo.... Don't crash into meeeeeee." In my mind, you planted your feet into the ground, swung your back wheel, kicked up some dust, and stopped just inches away from his bike.

"My bike has pedals..." little Alex repeated, but you were so excited from the ride you didn't seem to hear him. "Let's do that again! Watch this!" and you were off again. I offered Alex some encouragement, "Go on! Ride your bike!" When he finally started riding away, I noticed the chain on his bike wasn't working smoothly and the training wheels were in fact dragging him down. He struggled to make turns too. "I want another bike, mommy." Alex shouted at the woman who'd been reading the paper under a tree nearby. "You said you wanted this one." Alex's mom answered from behind the paper.

Just then, you whizzed back with both feet off the ground. "Did you see that, mommy? Did you see that? I went.... ZOOM!" Sweat was rolling down your red hit face and your chest was moving up and down rapidly. Your eyes were sparkling and you just looked so happy and content. I pulled you closer to give you a kiss. Alex suddenly interjected, "I have THREE bikes!" You looked at Alex quietly for a few seconds, "And my bike has a horn." you tooted your horn and took off again.

You spent the next little while chasing after the big kids on the playground. Even though they all had bigger, faster, and fancier bikes, all you wanted was to have fun chasing them. At first, they weren't sure if they wanted to play with a little boy with a pedal-less bike. Many of them purposely rode their bikes very close to you just to see what you'd do. When they realized how fearless and... "skilled" you were, they began to play your game of chase. After a few rounds, a few of them came to me to tell me how cool you were. "Your son's very good. He's actually very fast on that bike." "He's so cute!" "His bike doesn't have any pedals, but it runs very fast! And he has a horn! That's so cool!" In fact, there was a 10-year-old boy with a shiny red bike that you'd been eyeing with admiration since we got there (because he was the fastest). After chasing on the playground for a while, you sheepishly asked him if you could touch his bike. When he said "Go ahead", the expression on your face was just priceless! "When I have my next bike, it will be red too... like Lightning McQueen! And it will have pedals!" you proudly announced (yes, mommy made a mental note then). Then the boy asked if he could honk your horn in return, and you said no.

Through your brief (yet important for me to see) interaction with Alex and the big kids, I saw a confident and happy kid who just loves to have fun regardless of what other people think. Your happiness and enjoyment on the bike was contagious, and your effort and determination to establish speed was respectable. That's why those kids more than twice your age saw beyond the obvious physical differences and followed your lead in the game. I hope you can keep that 34-month-old with a pedal-less bike inside you no matter how old you are. Be proud of what you have and have fun in what you do.

And I promise I'll always be there to cheer you on.