Boy and his bike

Other families make sure their children have necessities like clothes and shoes and meals. In my family, I count a bike in that list too. Kids need bikes. I made a deal with each of my sons in the summer of seven: if you mow the lawn every week, no complaints, for 10 weeks then you get a bike. They both took me up on it. That comes out to $40/mow, and I still had to mow the lawn because a 7 year old sure can't push a mower in a straight line. This better have been a good lesson.

I'm thinking it was, because he had a wrench in his hand before we left Seven Stars. We took a stroll, and played with where would be the coolest spot for a picture of him and his new ride. (The blue spot is his shirt. You can just make out the tire underneath him. He's on his bike in a tree.)

My neighbor's driveway has a fantastic pitch to it. We sled it in the winter, and the kids tear up the said-mowed lawn on bikes in the summer. On the first day of this new bike, 7 rolls up to the tippity top of the drive. I'm headed out at 6:30 or 7 to go to work, and I stop to watch him screaming down this hill still in his pajamas. Children don't wait for you to be ready for them to be ready. When I see him hit the slow uphill in my yard, I noticed he didn't slow down a lot. And he didn't turn a lot. I should have been less surprised when he nailed the front steps. 

I throw my bike to the side and race over to him. I pull him up from the ground, and he giggles, "that was awesome. What was that sound?"

He pinched flat his tire. That was the sound.