A few weeks ago, I acquired via Craigs.list what is currently my prized possession, an Adams Trail-a-Bike, for a mere $70. Making the deal sweeter still was the fact that I was buying it from Bikes for the World. A few days later, the weather was right to go for a spin and my son, who does not ride a two-wheeler independently yet, did very well. The trail-a-bike has given him confidence, improved his balance, and has made it possible for us to go on longer rides than we could otherwise accomplish -- 8 miles or so before the complaints become deafening. I feel better because I can get some exercise with my son while our daughter naps and at the same time, D can get his run in on the treadmill. It is also a way for our active boy to stay out of trouble and for us to wear him out in order to try to keep him out of trouble (a post, or a book, for another day)!
On our ride this past Saturday, my son made an observation from his perch. You see, he likes to talk during our rides. Apparently, (and unlike me) he has the breath to do so, probably because he's not pedaling. Come to think of it, that might be the cause of the bemused grins I get from other adults while we ride (and here I thought we were somehow charming). I have, in fact, caught him with his head down on the handlebars, resting. Anyway.
He noticed, he [loudly] informed me, "that some adults have large butts."
"Ohhh?" I asked. "Like whom? Whose butts, pray tell, have you been observing lately?" The boy is sitting right behind me.
He starts.
"Like..."
Abrupt stop. Even while we ride, I can practically hear the gears in his head grinding laboriously, trying to divine the correct response. He chooses to be prudent.
"Like Dad. He has a big butt and it is hairy, so that means that when I am big, I will have a big, hairy butt too."
Ever the diplomat.
For the record, D's butt is not big. Ehem.
This started as an online journal in early 2006. At the time, it was a carefree spot for silly diatribes and the occasional photo. Since then, I got pregnant with mono.amniotic mono.chorionic twins, learned one of our daughters had a heart defect, spent 11 weeks in a hospital room and 29 more days with Eva in the NICU and PICU before losing her. We have two children who are alive and thriving and one who didn't make it. For me, this has become that place in between.
Oh my gosh---thats too funny. What an interesting conversation to have during a lovely bike ride--I'll say!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good recovery!
ReplyDeleteGood save on your son's part there! I love those audible gear grinding moments that kids have.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like a very active family, no wonder you were imagining physical fitness as opposed to my, rather bizarre, reference to enzymes in my last post!
Catherine, if we are active it is because our family embodies the unfortunate combination of fat genes and sweet teeth. We're trying to stay a step ahead of the insulin shots. In my family, in particular, each person reaches a certain point in middle age, exhales one day, and finds that they're 200 pounds (and four feet, eight inches tall).
ReplyDelete;-)
And as for the title of your last post, I thought that by "fit," you meant something like "seizure" and if that doesn't reveal my state of mind, I don't know what does...
THAT IS SO FRIGGIN' FUNNY! My daughter told me the other week that my butt is big, and I said, "So?" Which I realize isn't the most mature response, but she said, "My butt is small." And it is true, compared to a three year old, my butt is big. I am just pretending she didn't mean compared to another adult. xo
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