Distance

I strapped your helmet on, my son, and watched you ride off down the driveway on your bike. You still have training wheels, a sign of your age, and yet without hesitation you rode all the way to the end of the driveway and turned right, out of my sight, And I allowed it. You are now allowed to ride to the neighbor's driveway to turn around before coming home. I have given you an extension on your independence, and you have embraced it.

How long will it be until I allow you to ride to the corner? To a friend's house down the street? Around the entire block? It feels like such a slippery slope; that you will desire more independence and I will, in some way,s want you to stay my little boy forever. But the training wheels will come off and your desire to see more of the world will grow.

It seems I'm always telling you to be a "big boy" and to "act your age" but when you do I'm not sure I'm ready for it.

So this little "riding allowance" in some ways isn't a big deal. But when I really sit and think about it, it's huge. It seems every time you disappear around the front of the house I hold my breath a little until I see you coming back. And as I play with your younger brother, I feel bad for him. He may never receive any independence from me, lest all my babies someday disappear at the end of the driveway.