Not too long ago Tommy announced that he was going to ride a two wheeler bike.
"I want those off," he told me, pointing to his training wheels.
I asked Tom to get them off. Because I had no idea what to do. I imagine all you needed was a wrench and to twist a few times. But I am clueless when it comes to tools. When I go through Tom's tools I make up my own name for them:
For instance a Ratchet is called a Dippy Do Dah.
"Hand me the allen wrench," Tom will say.
"Oh you mean Atticus?" I'll respond.
Tom just rolls his eyes at me. "I'm not even going to ask," he'll mutter. He's just used to my antics and my love of naming inanimate objects.
So Tom took Tommy's training wheels off and he helped him practice. I watched with Natalie as Tom would hold the bike. Tommy would pedal and shout at Tom to let go.
"Are you sure?" Tom asked.
"LET GO!" Tommy boomed.
It reminded me of that episode on Full House where Michelle learns to ride a two wheeler. She's shouting at Joey to LET GO and Joey doesn't want to let go because the last time he let go, Michelle fell into a bush and had a hissy fit about it. Man, those kids were brats.
Tom let go and of course Tommy tumbled to the ground.
Thankfully he had on knee and elbow pads, complete with a Spiderman helmet.
They practiced for about an hour and then Tom said that he was done. He tried to get Tommy interested in something else.
"Want to jump on the trampoline?"
"No. I wanna ride my bike," Tommy said. "I do it myself."
I watched from the window as he would fall down and determined, he'd get right back on the bike.
A few times he'd shout in anger. I saw him kick his bike at one point.
Then he got dramatic (wonder where he gets it from?) and clasped his hands together, looked up at the sky and shouted, "WHYYYYY?"
But still, he kept trying.
I had to call him in when it started to get dark and he fumed.
"I wanna ride my bike," he whined.
"Tomorrow," I answered.
And each day he'd get back on his bike.
And then yesterday..
He started riding on his own.
"MOMMY!" I heard him shout as I was feeding Natalie.
I rushed outside, thinking that perhaps he had gotten hurt. He knows to stay by the house. I'm not one of those parents who lets their young children wander the neighborhood.
I saw Tommy pedal with a big smile on his face.
"I do it!"
Then he got overexcited and lost his balance. He collapsed onto the street, the bike falling on top of him. I thought he'd get upset but instead he simply pushed the bike off of him and climbed back on.
"I DO IT!" he yelled as he pedaled.
"You did it!" I said, clapping. I even had tears in my eyes.
"I'm a big boy now," Tommy told me seriously.
I am just amazed. The reason why he wanted his training wheels off is because the two boys that are in his class that live on the street were riding two wheelers. And Tommy wanted to be the same.
"Training wheels are for babies," he informed me.
He's outside now, pedaling basically like a pro. There are times where he loses his balance but he just climbs back up and tries again. I marvel at it because he just started pedaling at around five because of his low muscle tone. I remember how excited I was when he pedaled his bike. Before he'd just push himself along with his feet.
One of the little boys in Tommy's class saw me outside with Natalie the other day.
"Hey Tommy's Mom," he said.
Because that's who you are after you have children, you see.
"I thought Tommy had training wheels." The kid said this in a semi-snotty tone. I'm not fond of him. See, he has the same backpack as Tommy and Tommy notices everything. So at the bus stop he got excited and told the boy, "We have the same backpack. We have the same backpack!" And yes, it's not something that typical children may get thrilled about. So the little boy rolled his eyes and went, "So what?" I wanted to snap at the little boy and mutter, "You little shit," but I swallowed it back.
"Tommy can ride a two wheeler bike now," I told Brat Boy proudly.
The boy shrugged. "Oh. Me too. I could ride two wheelers when I was FIVE," he told me smugly.
You little shit...
It's probably a good idea why I decided not to work at the Child Development Center. I'd probably be thinking that a lot. Plus I realized that I don't really like other people's children. Unless you're a friend of mine, that is. Then I love your children.
In other news, we had to take Max to the vet for his rabies and distemper shot.
We had tried to get him his rabies shot before, but because he had a cold, he didn't get it.
So we brought him back and Max was meowing the whole way there.
"MEEOOOOWWW. MEOOOWWWW.." Deep, gutteral meows.
When I checked in at the vet, I asked if they knew a place where we could board Max while we're at Disney. They said that they did it there for $10 a day. Which I suppose isn't that bad. So we booked him for that.
Then we were called back.
Basically, we take him to this Cat Clinic instead of on base because the last time we took him on base they kept us waiting forever and they had big ugly dogs in the waiting room that freaked Max out. I felt awful for him. And for myself. Because dogs sense I don't like them and they kept coming up to me and I'd have to give them a polite pat so I didn't offend their owners. I don't think they'd appreciate it if I said, "Your dog stinks and would you mind getting its nose out of my crotch?"
The vet came back a few minutes later and checked Max over. Max still has watery eyes but he doesn't have the cold anymore.
Other than his eyes, he's in perfect health.
He took his shots like a pro. He didn't even flinch. Well, he sort of glared at me during the second one and then all was well again.
Max will be well taken care of while we're at Disney. All the ladies there are wonderful and they only take care of kitties. So they know exactly what Max needs.
Although the cost of the trip was robbery. It was $30 for the exam! Total was $59.
Ouch.
But Maximus Prime is worth it. That's what I call him. I'll go, "Maximus Prime: the FURRY Transformer!"
Max sort of just stares at me like I'm nuts. Just like my husband. And my children. And basically anyone who comes into contact with me.
I better go give the kitchen counters a final scrub. My parents should be here in about an hour. I'm making my crock pot pot roast and the house smells great.
Hold on.
*Sniffs*
Lovely, Max just took a dump so I better clean that too. Though the minute I clean his box, he's only going to take another dump so..
Ugh.
Thank goodness for air freshner.
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