have wheels, will travel

Junie received her first bicycle today.  It’s of special significance because:

1. It’s her first bike

2. I, like so many other kids, spent most of my waking hours on my bike when I was little.  With a dollar or two in my pocket, I would leave the house in the morning, ride around the neighborhood, get a slice of pizza for lunch at Little Caesars, and then ride around until exhaustion set in or until dinnertime, whichever came first.  I really hope our kids can enjoy that sort of freedom and safety on their bikes.  It makes me sad to think they won’t.

3. I bought this bike in the dusty basement of a vintage store almost 15 years ago in Chicago, and back then, I said my kids would someday ride it.  My kids was such an abstract concept at the time, so it’s strange, fun, and exciting to see one of my real-life kids riding this bike.

Before the cleanup…A little shinier…Saying hello to her new, cleaned-up friend…The first ride…I think she likes it…Sporting her new helmet.  I know she should wear a helmet when riding, and she will, but it’s hard to forget that nobody wore a helmet when I was growing up.  It doesn’t appear that we’ll have much trouble convincing her to wear it; she decided she wanted to wear it out to dinner, so she did…