Ricky is a very smart boy but he has definite things he does and doesn’t like to do. He also is very good at knowing what he can get someone else to do for him so he doesn’t have to do it. When he was a toddler, I joked that if I would chew his food for him, he would let me.
Fast forward to age 7, I got the boys scooters last summer but we didn’t get a chance to ride them much. Our busy road isn’t really conducive to that kind of stuff. The boys haven’t learned to ride bikes yet for the same reason. I took them out for some scooter practice one morning this week at Grandmama’s house – plenty of sidewalks and no traffic there.
Billy was doing his best with his big boy scooter. The thing would twist and kick him off. He’d get up and say, “It tackled me!” as he got back on and scooted some more until his next crash.
Ricky sped ahead and had to wait for us to catch up. Repeatedly. On the way home, however, he was going much slower and I tried talking with him (he was a bit cranky that day). I asked him if he was having fun and he said, “No.” I told him how this was good practice before we started learning to ride bikes and he said, “I don’t want to.” I pressed on and Ricky explained further,
“The only things with wheels that I like are cars and trucks and vans. I don’t like that other stuff.”
Hmm, sounds like a challenge to me!