According to my son, I am a meanie. We went for a scoot this evening, and ended up at Lancaster Honda. While we were looking at the various bikes and scoots (of which they had only three which were all sold), his eyes fastened on a little 49cc dirt bike. He then started to whimper and look at me with puppy-dog eyes as if I would plunk down $1,000 and buy him the bike. I said no (as I have every other time he's asked for a dirt bike) and so, I am now a meanie.
Never mind that we make sure he has lots of toys and gadgets with which to occupy his time and energy. Never mind that we make sure that he has clothes to wear, food to eat, and a place to sleep (and keep all the toys and gadgets). Never mind that he gets a huge amount of my attention when I am home and he is awake. I am a meanie.
It's really quite humorous when I pause to think about it, but it has a lot to do with the development of a child's brain and personality. Children don't know safe from unsafe in most cases. They have little to no understanding of the value of money. They also don't understand that many adults are smarter than they appear.
I know that taking my boy fishing, or taking him for a ride on my scoot, or taking him golfing, is an investment in him. I could try to buy his love with things, but things don't last. Sure, he has a lot of stuff (most American kids do), but he doesn't have the latest and greatest, and that is purposeful. Children need their parents to be involved with them, not just buying things for them or doing things for them. Things don't matter, relationships do.
My hope is that he will eventually understand this. Perhaps in time, he will.
As a side note, I met Gerry from Scoot Lancaster tonight at the Honda dealership. He seems like a decent guy. I was a little embarrased to note that here I was riding in regular jeans and a T-shirt, and he was obviously wearing armor, even down to jeans with knee pads. I gotta get me some of them. It reminded me that I need to look into some protective clothing that won't break the bank.
The Gift of Riding
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Realizations of the Obvious I can get lost inside myself. Preoccupied with
meaningless or sometimes even harmful or pointless preoccupations that cut
me ...
1 week ago
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1 comment:
That armor stuff and the "all the gear all the time" thing... I fear that suiting up or changing clothes would take a good chunk of the fun of scootering right out of it for me. I wear shorts and tee shirts most summer days and if I'm going out on the bike, that's what I wear. I'd have to change pants back and forth a few times a day if I wanted to "gear up" to ride but stay cool otherwise and with how much stuff I carry in my pockets and on my belt it would take too long. The one concession I do make is putting on socks and sneakers instead of wearing only my flip flops as I did on the 50cc scooter.
The way I see it - we all take knowing risks by riding. The only way to minimize the risks completely would be to stay off our bikes, but clearly we draw the line before that. Don't be "embarrassed" into gearing up. Draw your own line.
Joe
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