Tuesday, February 1, 2011

"Fixing His Bike"

There are bike parts all over the driveway. Apparently when you run over a nail, the entire bike needs to come apart to see exactly what needs fixing. And, when you're just 10 it's pretty hard to navigate your way back to a whole bike. So...just keep unscrewing stuff. And unscrewing stuff....and unscrewing the last screws & bolts that assemble that bike. Suddenly, you are "finished." Now try to put it back together. If it doesn't work, toss the whole lot into the pile headed for the scrap yard. I wandered by several times as I took care of farm animals. Each time I said, "you probably shouldn't take any more off that bike," he told me everything was under control. What do I know? I'm just a mom. I do know one thing. Even though he was getting too big for that bike, we had NO intentions of replacing it yet. Taking it completely apart without guidance or permission isn't cool. And, now that Dad's seen his "scrap" pile, there won't be a new bike coming out of our budget. I overheard something about "using your head" and "not destroying a good bike" in their conversation. I left that one for Dad.

Awww, impulsivity, curiosity & determination aren't always a good combination. Someday, his curiosity & determination minus the impulsivity may be more effective. In the meantime, Bobby will need to get a job if he ever wants another bike. He could use his skateboard. It's still in one piece (for now)!

3 comments:

ek said...

Charlotte, don't take this the wrong way...but your post had me laughing out loud. The reason is, oh, strangely coincidental. You see, the last time I took my laptop apart I ended up with screws left over. I even set them aside in specific areas, like the screws for the keyboard go here, the screws for the back cover over here, etc. I can feel Bobby's pain. Every time I take something apart around the house the ten year old in me is just giddy with delight. Then the thirty-something in me says remember you gotta put it back together. Thanks Charlotte.

Charlotte said...

Laughing here! He's taken apart several computers as well, sadly. Two with permission after the ONE withOUT permission! Glad you enjoyed this!

Crystal said...

@ EK: You crack me up! It's like you're a grown up "Bobby" to me. ;) I think we all have a little Bobby in ourselves. And honestly, that's not all bad.