Boy on two wheels

Miguel has a new bike. It all started when my sister called me on Thursday, saying that I "have to get Miguel out of the house more often." My little Oedipus still hates school - we're on our fourth week now - and every morning my sis has to calm him down and explain why he has to go to school, BEFORE she can actually drive him there. "And could you please talk to your mom," she asked, who refuses to allow him to the park without a family member. And since I go to work five days a week that's, well, never.

Our P3,000.00 solution? Buy him a bike. I was so excited at the prospect of graduating him from his tricycle (long overdue I know) that on Friday I played hooky and scouted around the mall for a "proper" bike. That evening when I announced to Miguel that we were going to buy a bike the following day, he already knew about it. In fact, he already had a schedule for the following day:
          1. wake up 
          2. open gate (of the stairs)
          3. go downstairs
          4. eat breakfast
          5. brush teeth
          6. go to store 
          7. buy bike
How I wish that life was so simple.

Buying your kid his first bike is one of those precious moments you don't want to miss. Although I had narrowed down the choices, I pre-sold a particular bike to him on the way to the store: an orange one with front and rear brakes, softer brake handles, shocks, and mudguards. When he saw it, it was love at first sight. To him it seemed to take forever for the salesman to adjust the training wheels and change the seat, but once those were fixed he could have pedaled all over that toy store. I hadn't planned on buying the most expensive bike for that size - although my sis was shouldering part of the cost - but I just got carried away when I saw how nice it was and imagined how excited he would be. I was totally right.

Sunday afternoon I was in bed trying to take a nap while Miguel was biking in the terrace below. My brother chanced on him and I heard him exclaim with pleasure and surprise that Miguel was riding such a big, nice bike. My son proudly showed off the bike, told my bro about the trip to the toy store, and even recounted his first taekwondo class (another story) - prompted of course by the nanny. My bro reacted with even more pleasure and surprise. Maybe we try to please our kids, maybe we try to please ourselves, and maybe we try to please others. All I can say is, on that sleepy Sunday afternoon, I felt darn good.