Friday, August 6, 2010

Boy At Large

The other day I received one of those phone calls that can make a mother stop dead in her tracks. "Do you know where your son is?" said the voice on the other end of the line.

Okay, the voice was my husband and he wouldn't be calling just to ask where one quarter of his of spring were, just out of the blue.

I told hubs that to the best of my knowledge Junior was out for a bike ride. At the very least this answer should be good for part marks. My little man was indeed out for a bike ride, as a matter of fact he had gone all the way to visit dad at work.

I laughed and asked how he got there, ( I know he was on his bike, I mean what route did he take). Turns out he took the safest of all possible routes. Since it was near the end of the day dad was just going to keep him there and then drive him home.

My son, just for the record has just turned 9 years old. My husband works about 2.5 kms from our house.

As we told our friends who have kids about the same age about Mr. Man's adventure they were horrified. Did we ground him? Did we take his bike away? Was he ever going to be allowed to leave the property again.

To be honest I was shocked by how shocked they were.

My son is the only boy in the family. He has three sisters who are all girly girls. Our dog is female, to the best of our knowledge so are the fish. He really likes being a guy. He likes to do guy things. He likes to think that as a boy he is just more adventurous and independent than his sisters. We can debate how true that is another time.

The thing is, I grew up in a time and place where everyone spent summer (spring, fall) days out on their bikes. We knew our little corner of the world like the back of our hand. I kind of like that my son knows our neighbourhood. I feel better knowing that when he is out he knows several routes to get home.Plus he knows where all his friends, and most of his sister's friends live should he ever run into trouble and need help. Plus, little does he know, but I have watched him on his rides more than he knows, and even when he doesn't know anyone is watching, he wears his helmet, and crosses at the lights and obeys all the rules.

So he isn't grounded. He gets to keep his bike, and his independence.
Kate