You Are Who You Are

Pumpkin taught me a very import lesson this week: You are who you are, and it works, works, works.

M and I love to do outdoor things, like hunt, fish, camp, 4-wheel, dirt bike, etc. So naturally, we try to get our kids involved in those things. Pumpkin has always loved riding on the dirt bike with M, so when he was 2 we bought him his first dirt bike.

With M

His gear

 

Seeing how the new bike fits

We put training wheels on the bike and let him ride. He was hesitant at first, but slowly got the hang of it. Each year he would ride a little more and get a little more comfortable. Last year, he raced in his first race.

Sorry its blurry, but out on the track!

With his trophy for finishing :)

We made the mistake of having him race 2 nights, so a total of 4 races. By the 4th race he was tired and worn out. He ended up crashing 2x and not finishing the last race. The really bummer though... we can't get him to ride anymore.

Training wheels came off a while after the race and he would ride a little with M running along and helping him out. Unfortunately, Ex had some things to say to Pumpkin, and now he won't ride. He gets on and just sits there. Its like he wants to go, but won't. The other night he said he wanted to ride so he got all his gear on, M got the bike going, and then he just sat there. It was really frustrating because there wasn't anything we could do to help him get his confidence back. Also, being that M and I both ride, it was hard to see that he wouldn't.

Later that evening Pumpkin was in his room waiting for me to tuck him in and I heard him saying "you are what you are and it works, works, works". That broke my heart.

As much as I want my son to ride dirt bikes with us, he may not, and that is ok. He is his own person, with his own interests, and will have his own hobbies, whether they are the same as us or not. And that is perfectly ok. I don't love him less for it, or even like him less, and I am excited to see what he chooses to do and the path he chooses to follow on his.

Thanks Pumpkin for reminding me that we are all our own person, and it is ok.