today is wheel day in the pre-k
wheel day is a day where the students get to bring in a wheeled vehicle
my son dean brought his bike to school
many of the other children brought in bikes or scooters
these are the types of days that parents treasure and fear
normally I do not handle pick up or drop off
but today my work schedule allowed me to handle the task
the infrequency of this task keeps that experience special instead of routine
wheel day had the potential of being extra special
special for me and for him
after walking the dogs dean grabbed his lunch box and his helmet
I grabbed the bike
not sure if it was wheel day or just the day itself
either way dean had no sign of I HATE SCHOOL on this day
it was all excitement and anticipation
we arrived a few minutes early which gave dean a chance to ride around the play ground a few times
we went to around various obstacles towards the concrete banked walls....
I knew would be his objective
twenty years ago I broke my first mountain bike on this same set of banked walls
was trying to catch air on my Mongoose ATB with a fellow messenger named Puker
Puker was a righteous skater who had been on the cover of THRASHER MAGAZINE in 1981
neither of us were catching much air
but apparently I caught enough air to break my frame
enough on this ancient history
that was frame number one of over a dozen mountain bike frames to be broken in the years that followed
back to this morning
the thought of the kids swarming around and the wildness of my son had me spooked
part of me was thinking that I should have shrouded my son in pads
another part of me felt that crossing my fingers should be enough
the rest of me figured that I should just show him around the lot
so I had him drop in on the not so steep wall a few times
he was more cautious and more in control than I expected him to be
which was good
I know that he can try to be a little 4 year old show boat some times
so I tried to have him be alert to various obstacles and barriers
dean worked a few laps around the jungle gym
up a subtle grade
down a short fast grade
then up the handicap ramp to the classroom
where he tried to ride his bike into the building
once inside the kids all showed off their scooters and their bikes
dean was glowing
all the children were glowing
the school day is now over
there has been no call from the school nurse or my wife
which is good
hopefully dean had a blast riding his bike with his school mates
it shocked me that there were so many bikes with training wheels
this acted to make me more proud of my son
it also made me think that it would be fun to get together with some of the kids and the parents
have a few wrenches handy
and
have a little bike riding session
where the kids learn to ride the bikes without training wheels with the example of their peers
wheel day is a day where the students get to bring in a wheeled vehicle
my son dean brought his bike to school
many of the other children brought in bikes or scooters
these are the types of days that parents treasure and fear
normally I do not handle pick up or drop off
but today my work schedule allowed me to handle the task
the infrequency of this task keeps that experience special instead of routine
wheel day had the potential of being extra special
special for me and for him
after walking the dogs dean grabbed his lunch box and his helmet
I grabbed the bike
not sure if it was wheel day or just the day itself
either way dean had no sign of I HATE SCHOOL on this day
it was all excitement and anticipation
we arrived a few minutes early which gave dean a chance to ride around the play ground a few times
we went to around various obstacles towards the concrete banked walls....
I knew would be his objective
twenty years ago I broke my first mountain bike on this same set of banked walls
was trying to catch air on my Mongoose ATB with a fellow messenger named Puker
Puker was a righteous skater who had been on the cover of THRASHER MAGAZINE in 1981
neither of us were catching much air
but apparently I caught enough air to break my frame
enough on this ancient history
that was frame number one of over a dozen mountain bike frames to be broken in the years that followed
back to this morning
the thought of the kids swarming around and the wildness of my son had me spooked
part of me was thinking that I should have shrouded my son in pads
another part of me felt that crossing my fingers should be enough
the rest of me figured that I should just show him around the lot
so I had him drop in on the not so steep wall a few times
he was more cautious and more in control than I expected him to be
which was good
I know that he can try to be a little 4 year old show boat some times
so I tried to have him be alert to various obstacles and barriers
dean worked a few laps around the jungle gym
up a subtle grade
down a short fast grade
then up the handicap ramp to the classroom
where he tried to ride his bike into the building
once inside the kids all showed off their scooters and their bikes
dean was glowing
all the children were glowing
the school day is now over
there has been no call from the school nurse or my wife
which is good
hopefully dean had a blast riding his bike with his school mates
it shocked me that there were so many bikes with training wheels
this acted to make me more proud of my son
it also made me think that it would be fun to get together with some of the kids and the parents
have a few wrenches handy
and
have a little bike riding session
where the kids learn to ride the bikes without training wheels with the example of their peers