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Helmet Schmelmet?
So my son is turning 5 in a few days. For his birthday, we got him a bike (with training wheels)and introduced it to him last weekend. Now, he did own a helmet, because we got him one about a year ago when a friend of ours gave us their son's old bike. Unfortunately, when we introduced the new bike, we could not find his helmet anywhere.
After searching the house high and low for the helmet, this thought crossed my mind briefly: "Does he really need a helmet? I mean, come on, we didn't wear helmets when we were kids, and nothing ever happened to us!"
Before you throw vegetables at me, let me say that we did immediately go to Target and buy him a new helmet, and he has never ridden his bike without one.
I am very happy we are ensuring his safety by requiring this gear. But I still have to wonder, when and why did we sissify our children? Helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, shin guards, wrist guards ... the list goes on. In my day, we popped wheelies, rode our bikes down steep sides of bayous, jumped ramps, not once thinking twice. These days, kids can't do anything without some type of safety gear -- God forbid they get get a scratch or a bump. Erring on the side of caution -- good. But have we taken it too far?
That being said, the friend who had given us her son's old bike a year ago e-mailed me recently, recounting a horrible spill her son had taken on his new big-boy-no-training-wheels bike, in which his helmet cracked on the side -- indicating that if he hadn't been wearing the helmet, he'd have been seriously injured. So, OK, when something like that happens, sure, I see the benefit of helmets. But sometimes it appears that we're so obsessed with our children's safety that we're practically wrapping them in bubble wrap to take a stroll down the street -- oh wait, no, not down the street (too dangerous), so maybe a lap around the back yard, supervised, of course.
I'm growing nostalgic for the days when it was safe for kids to ride bikes, untethered by heavy "safety" gear and fearless to go where they wanted to go because there was not a predator lurking at every corner. When can my almost-5-year-old play alone outside? Probably never, because i am one of those moms who's afraid her baby will get kidnapped or run over by some crazy driver doing 50 down our neighborhood road. But alas, I can sigh in wistful pelasure at the photographs I have from my childhood: "You're riding a bike with no hands, Mommy?" "yes, dear, we could do that back then." "And you're not wearing a helmet?" "No, Sweetie, they didn't have helmets back then." "Why is it dark outside, Mommy?" "Oh, well, back then it was safe to be out after dark."
Sigh.
That's Why We Can't Have Nice Things
I have three kids: a 5-year-old son, a 1-year-old son, and a 37-year-old husband. I'll be publicly making fun of all of them.
So my son is turning 5 in a few days. For his birthday, we got him a bike (with training wheels)and introduced it to him last weekend. Now, he did own a helmet, because we got him one about a year ago when a friend of ours gave us their son's old bike. Unfortunately, when we introduced the new bike, we could not find his helmet anywhere.
After searching the house high and low for the helmet, this thought crossed my mind briefly: "Does he really need a helmet? I mean, come on, we didn't wear helmets when we were kids, and nothing ever happened to us!"
Before you throw vegetables at me, let me say that we did immediately go to Target and buy him a new helmet, and he has never ridden his bike without one.
I am very happy we are ensuring his safety by requiring this gear. But I still have to wonder, when and why did we sissify our children? Helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, shin guards, wrist guards ... the list goes on. In my day, we popped wheelies, rode our bikes down steep sides of bayous, jumped ramps, not once thinking twice. These days, kids can't do anything without some type of safety gear -- God forbid they get get a scratch or a bump. Erring on the side of caution -- good. But have we taken it too far?
That being said, the friend who had given us her son's old bike a year ago e-mailed me recently, recounting a horrible spill her son had taken on his new big-boy-no-training-wheels bike, in which his helmet cracked on the side -- indicating that if he hadn't been wearing the helmet, he'd have been seriously injured. So, OK, when something like that happens, sure, I see the benefit of helmets. But sometimes it appears that we're so obsessed with our children's safety that we're practically wrapping them in bubble wrap to take a stroll down the street -- oh wait, no, not down the street (too dangerous), so maybe a lap around the back yard, supervised, of course.
I'm growing nostalgic for the days when it was safe for kids to ride bikes, untethered by heavy "safety" gear and fearless to go where they wanted to go because there was not a predator lurking at every corner. When can my almost-5-year-old play alone outside? Probably never, because i am one of those moms who's afraid her baby will get kidnapped or run over by some crazy driver doing 50 down our neighborhood road. But alas, I can sigh in wistful pelasure at the photographs I have from my childhood: "You're riding a bike with no hands, Mommy?" "yes, dear, we could do that back then." "And you're not wearing a helmet?" "No, Sweetie, they didn't have helmets back then." "Why is it dark outside, Mommy?" "Oh, well, back then it was safe to be out after dark."
Sigh.
Comments
Cheryl:
I totally relate with what you're saying. I have very fond memories of summertime on my bike. The general rule was....out with the sun, eat lunch at whatever kid's house was closest, and be home when it got dark. Seriously. Can you imagine that, now?