Wired For Noise

E is in love with motorcycles; deeply, passionately in love. So tonight when we went back to the fair with my mom and saw the Bikers Against Child Abuse booth I knew he had to go. There stood two of the most glorious bikes you could imagine, decked out to the nines and guarded by two of the biggest, most stereotypical bikers you could imagine. E quickly lost all courage. My outgoing, fearless, unstoppable boy was hiding behind my legs and begging me not to go. After a few moments of attempting to find out what he was afraid of I left it at his simply being afraid and we left.

Off we went to the small petting zoo where E made friends with a calf, a goat, a pony, and two very hyper puppies. I watched as he slowly went from timid and holding my hand to bravely walking around on his own and petting the animals. When his courage was at its peak I asked him if he wanted to ride the motorcycles. He nearly drug me over to them.

But one look at the two men guarding the bikes had him ducking behind my legs again. He’s never had issues with strangers before, or men. Even big, hairy, tattooed men he’s talked to before. I think the crowds, the noise, and the sights were just too much stimulation for him. He was getting lost in all the excitement and needed to be brought back. I kneeled down and talked to him eye to eye, asking if I could ride the motorcycles. He agreed to that. Then I asked him to help me and he “helped” me get on the bike. Once I was up there I told him that I didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle, would he teach me how. That was it. He climbed up and began giving me a lesson on everything he knew about bikes. It wasn’t us in a crowd anymore, it was just him and mommy on a real life motorcycle. The bikers took a picture of us (I’ll scan it later). Once he had filled his courage cup I got off the bike and he happily at there by himself chatting with the bikers and making “vroom vroom” noises. For the entire time he sat up there he was his normal happy, bubbling, fearless self. Off the bike, however, and he returned to my shy little man walking between my legs and hugging on to me for dear life.

We only stayed a bit longer after that. We split a basket of fries and my mom got him a slice of chocolate pie. A nursed and coo-ed at me while E ate. Then we headed back home and my mom back to her house. I think this was one of those outings where mama learns more than E does.

Technorati tags: motorcycles, county fair, children, parenting

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