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Allen and I planned for months that we wanted to get Ellie a bike for her birthday. We found just the perfect bike at Target. (That never happens, right?) It’s her favorite color (orange) has her favorite pattern on it (polka dots) and it is a retro inspired cruiser bike with gears. Perfect, perfect and perfect! (The sun flare that my iPhone captured just ads to the mystique, yes?)
We hid it in the neighbor’s garage and decided to give it to her early because we were going to Seabrook, this lovely little seaside town that is perfectly set up for kids to ride bikes to their heart’s content. Ellie was over the moon when she saw it. She was head over heels! The girls decided to ride around a bit while Allen and I packed the car.
That seemed like a good idea at the time but it was taking them forever to ride back to us. What was the deal? We were trying to get out of town so I stalked up the hill to find them. Grumble, grumble, grumble. When I spotted the girls I yelled for them to hustle up. Imagine my horror when I saw Ellie start to ride towards me and then go completely head over heels over the handle bars when she broke suddenly. Know what I helpfully yelled? “STOP IT!” Like that was going to change the fact that my kid was levitating towards the concrete. Thankfully she landed in the grass…this time.
Apparently this was the second time she’d pulled this maneuver and the first time she DID hit the concrete. Thank heavens for helmets. Seriously people…it doesn’t matter how far your kids are going. (Ellie was three blocks from home.) Make sure your kids are wearing helmets! Concrete 1, Ellie 0.
Allen and I were heartsick about how she kept saying she ‘ruined’ her bike, (it was more than a little scraped up) and we thought for sure she would be gun shy to get back on it again. I was crushed for her. Amazingly Ellie rallied like a pro. By the next morning she wanted me to draw a heart on her cheek to make others think she’d gotten a tattoo. (It seemed to work too!) She also hopped right on that bike and never looked back.
I may be head over heels for that kid and her ability to rally but I never want to see my kid do that trick again! (More on our Seabrook trip next week!)