Somewhere along the way, Ava’s become concerned with people on motorcycles and bikes who don’t wear helmets. She absolutely delights in pointing out every time someone goes by with no headgear on.
She and I were standing in the front yard during the move two weekends ago, and a woman rode past us without a helmet. She was maybe 12 feet from us. Ava pointed at her and, in a disapproving tone I think she picked up from her mother, said, “No HELmet!” The woman looked over at Ava in mock embarrassment and covered her mouth with her hand; Ava appeared satisfied with the response.
Then, last night, as I sat next to Ava while she ate her pre-bedtime snack, she regaled (and people, I mean regaled) me with a long, detailed story about two groups of motorcyclists she said she’d seen yesterday. There were “good” motorcyclists and “bad” motorcyclists. Can you guess which group didn’t wear helmets? She was intent on making it clear, also, that some of the bad motorcyclists were wearing helmets, and that they also went over the speed limit (Ava’s also keen on knowing whether we’re going the speed limit when we’re in the car, a concern ever since her Uncle Kevin got a speeding ticket).
It’s amazing to watch her get involved in telling these stories. She waves her hands around and gets so excited that, sometimes, she actually stammers as she tries to get the words to come out. Also cool is when I react with approval or displeasure at whether the people in her stories are wearing helmets, Ava gets a big smile on her face. She must be learning something here, but any educational or developmental process that’s going on is lost amidst the sheer cuteness of her exuberance.
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1 annettes // Jun 22, 2007 at 10:58 am
Helmets shmelmets. No such thing as a helmet in this house. If my kids could actually ride their bikes faster than 2 miles an hour and were allowed to go in the street, I might think about it.
And how does Ava feel about helmet hair? Considering her mother, I imagine this will become an issue sometime in the future…
2 Jen // Jun 22, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Arlo too!
When we drove to Marshalltown last weekend to visit my folks, we must’ve passed about a hundred (I’m not kidding–they must’ve been bound to some big rally or something) Harleys on the two lane road between I-80 and M-town.
And almost none of them were wearing helmets.
This distressed Arlo. Every time another handful of bikers would crest the hill coming our way, Arlo would point and say the same thing: “NO HELMET!!!!”
3 DawneyB. // Jun 25, 2007 at 7:45 am
The walnut definitely does NOT fall far from the tree on this one… sounds almost identical to Leah’s assessment of “good” and “bad” people who like to eat at Airliner.
FYI – Coughing and waving your hands wildly in front of your face is a very effective method of communicating disapproval of smoking!
4 Jenny // Jul 11, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Good going, Ava! My kids would love to talk with her about this, by the way. They would regale HER with stories of how they’ve shaken their fingers at “bad” cars, bikes and motorcycles and yelled, “STOP!” with their brows furrowed and their fists curled when they witness indecency or the possibility thereof towards your average pedestrian.
Oh and… as for “helmets shelmets,” well… a woman I knew was killed when her bike caught a rock as she was going no speed to speak of and her head hit the ground. And I’ve heard too many such stories since this happened, so: go helmets!
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