By Trent Rosser

Not too long ago, my wife and I bought a used bicycle for our grandson, Levi. It was used and needed a few repairs. Levi was with us when we purchased it and he was ready to ride as soon as we arrived home. He was pretty upset that I would not let him; I had to tighten screws, adjust the chain and air up the tires.

The next day I took the bike to work and got it back in tip top condition. After a couple of hours cleaning it up, and doing repairs, Levi had a brand new bike with training wheels. I brought it home and put it in his room so he could ride the next time he came to see us. Sure enough, when he did come back over a couple of days later, the first thing he asked was to ride his new bike. He didn’t even go into his room to look at it. He burst through the front door and said, “Where’s my bike?” The little brat did not even ask how we were or even say hi to us. He just wanted his bike. Just because he is 5 years old doesn't mean he gets what he wants and when he wants…. Okay, so maybe he does and maybe he is just a little spoiled! I blame my wife!

It was a nice day so we took his bike out front. He jumped on and just sat there. He looked at me with the most sincere eyes and said, “Push, Papa, Push!” It was then that I realized, I'm gonna have to teach him to ride a bike. After about 15 minutes of explaining to him that you have to press down on the pedal, he finally mastered it…with his right leg, but then I had to explain that you have to do it with both legs. Honestly, I was impressed on how quickly he picked it up and was riding down the sidewalk without any of my help at all. He would jump on and take off all by himself. His issue was stopping. He would steer it in the grass and it would come to a quick stop. He would almost flip over the front of the bike every time. It took a while for me to explain that if he pedaled backwards it would stop the bike and not go backwards. It was at this point that he learned (with a little help from me) about skid marks. I would get him going very fast, his little handlebars twitching back and forth and he would slam on the brakes. He would get off the bike, look back behind him and yell “Skid Mark!”

Then it happened. He did something that I have only heard about. My parents tell me that I did it as a kid and I guess it was Levi’s turn. He was riding around the driveway next door. I was sitting on the porch watching him and checking my email on the phone. I heard him yell, “Papa, I gotta pee!” “Well, get off your bike and go pee!” I replied. I saw him coming my way and heard the familiar sound of the bike tire screeching to a halt. I hear him say “Skid Mark” again and look up as he is getting off his bike. I thought he was going to come inside, but instead, he ran to the tree next to the street, dropped his pants down to his ankles and started to water the tree in his own special way. There was a little full moon across Amarillo that day. All the neighbors were outside and saw the entire incident. Now again, I was told I did the same thing when I was a kid, so there was no use in getting on to him. So I just told him not to do it again and next time, go inside. The things we do when we are kids! I can only imagine when he learns of another skid mark and shows his dirty underwear to his mother.

So now he knows how to ride a bike, sorta. He still needs to take the training wheels off. But that will come with time. I am sure it will come sooner than I want it to. Before you know it, we will be teaching him to drive, just like my grandfather did by first letting me steer the truck as we went down the highway. These are the things that we do as parents and grandparents. We teach our young to fly. We wish them the best and do our best to make sure they have the proper wings to soar. Sometimes, learning to fly, starts with just a little push of a bicycle with training wheels.