back at preschool this morning. The official first day is only about an hour (from 10:45 – Noon) where the kids play in their classroom with their peers and new teacher (Mrs. Pam), while the parents socialize and hear the rules of the year from the superintendent (Mrs. Nedra). After the hour of rules for Daddy and playtime for Dryver we were set to head home. Though Dryver informed me he would have preferred a full day, the hour of playtime was enough to make him hungry for lunch.We headed to McDonalds for a Daddy & Dryver lunch out; we had done this the last few years on the first day of school. After lunch, I decided to then stay at home the rest of the day to work at the official home office. I ended up working while watching Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase at the same time, though the work was still pretty productive. Once Stryde and Dryver got up from their naps, around 4:30pm, we decided to go ride our bikes in the nice weather.
Outside we went to get the bikes and head over to the Methodist Church parking lot down the street. Dryver wanted to make sure he was wearing his helmet and
his knee pads to be safe. He even put on his hand guards and elbow pads. He was decked out and ready to ride like Lance Armstrong on the last day of his career. Author’s Note – when I was a kid it was considered the ‘ultimate in nerd’ to wear a helmet and any form of protective padding. Even I, being somewhat a nerd, did not even wear a helmet. That was out! Now the culture has shifted, you are considered a nerd or ‘Out’ if you don’t wear your helmet when riding your bike or skateboard. That is a good thing, since kids and injuries go together like peanut butter and jelly. I am still waiting for having a full head of hair to become ‘Out’ of style.We started heading over to the parking lot, when Stryde realized he did not have a helmet and
protective padding, such as Dryver. The truth is, we have not purchased this for him yet, though he is about the right age to wear a helmet at least. Dryver was able to get a helmet earlier since he had such a big head. Stryde came over to me and looked up and with his cutest face said “Where’s my helmet like Dryver, Daddy?” This is like a kid asking you why you did not buckle his seatbelt for him or why you gave him candy instead of something healthy.I looked down and was not sure what to tell him. I figured I would go inside and find a baseball hat and see if that would suffice until we purchased him an official biking helmet. We tried a few hats, but not to his liking (they were not helmets). I guess you can’t fool a 2 year old that easily. Then I got a genius of an idea, I saw on the table the bowl and strainer Jennifer had used for dinner. Ah Ha, a helmet. I went over and grabbed the bowl and gave it to Stryde with satisfaction on my face. He looked at the bowl with puzzlement, and then said ‘No!!!’ I thought – Oh no… He has figured me out. What am I going to do next? Then, to my amazement, he said ‘No bowl Daddy, I want that helmet’ as he pointed to the strainer I had pulled out of the bowl and set on the counter. The strainer was bright orange plastic from Target
I grabbed the strainer from the kitchen counter and handed it down to him. He didn’t even flinch as he placed it on his head and ran out the door yelling at Dryver that he was ready to go. ‘I got a helmet Dryver, I got my helmet!’ Though I am pretty sure the plastic orange strainer is not the most protective gear available today, it at least provided Stryde the confidence to get on his bike and ride as fast and as hard as possible. He was like a demon on wheels and I was again reminded of his total lack of fear for pain and injury.Dryver and Stryde raced up and down the parking lot. We played ‘Hot Lava Game’ and Hopscotch. We took some photos. We did some poppers on the ground and played with the chalk
that had been left from other kids. We had a few smash-up derby games. Finally we gathered up our stuff and headed home for dessert. We all indulged in ice-cream sundaes and conversed about the day together. What a day. While I was preparing Stryde for his bath, I found a few strands of spaghetti that had come from his helmet (I guess it was not 100% clean), I am pretty sure Lance Armstrong never had to deal with food in his hair as a kid. Overall, we had another great evening together, one day of many I will remember for the rest of my life.
