OMG - is this not the most excellent of all bikes?! And best of all, it is being ridden by a BOY not some girlie girl. I wish I could have had one of these when I was growing up, but truth be told I probably was not cool enough. I could not have handled the awesomeness. But now, at 43 years of age, with 3 kids under my belt I could totally ROCK the unicorn bike!
Growing up, I was kinda shy. I had a close knit group of friends, but was very awkward around boys. I vividly remember one year in gym class we had two weeks of dance lessons. And I'm not talking ballet here, I'm talking lights down, romantic music playing, boys on one side of the gym, girls on the other. The boys had to walk across the gym and ask a girl to dance. You then had to slow dance to two songs. WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING?! I'm sure it was some hair-brained attempt to teach us etiquette, but seriously - can you imagine how mortified we all were? Oh, the popular kids were enjoying it just fine. But me, my group, we were sweating it out. Who would ask us to dance, and more importantly, how would we possibly get thru two songs of slow dancing? Awkward.
I cannot adequately describe how I felt when one of the football players (lordy was he cute!) walked right up to me and asked me very shyly and sweetly to dance. Oh, we danced alright, but that was it. He kept trying to talk to me (kinda whispering in my ear, 'cuz we were slow dancing, after all), and I did not say a word. Not One Word. I couldn't speak. Sure, I had an entire conversation going in my head - something to the effect of "Say something, weirdo. Anything at all. Just whatever you do, don't just stand there like some dolt not sayin' a word." And then it was over. Two songs. Just like that. For all that conversation in my head, not one peep came out. I had totally blown it. He never asked me to dance again, and when I did see him in the hall after that he would totally go out of his way to avoid me (who could blame him!). I'm sure he thought I was some kinda stuck-up, weird chick. Really, I was just so stunned that he'd asked me to dance I could barely breathe, let alone talk.
A lot of people think that when kids are very young that's when they most need their parents around. I was most definitely of this mindset when my boys were babies. I worked thru two of their young days, but was there for every single moment of the third. Now my babies are 15, 9 and 6. And I'd have to say that my 15 year old needs me every bit as much as my 6 year old (though he'd tell you with absolute certainty that he doesn't need me for anything). Watching my teenager go thru middle and high school is such a poignant reminder of how awkward that timeframe is, and how important it is to at least feel like you have family at home who've got your back. No matter what happens during the day, you know you can come home to a warm place where you are accepted no matter what. You are around people who have seen you at your absolute worst and love you still. No Matter What.
I feel so blessed to be able to be a Mom, and especially one who goes not work outside the home (though I do PLENTY of work inside the home!). And I'm hoping that all that awkwardness and shyness that I used to feel (and still do sometimes) will help give me some insight and compassion when I see my kids going thru a lot of the same stuff. Let's be real - I cannot imagine growing up in today's society, it was hard enough back in the 70's. But things have changed. And yet it's all still about the same. I think adolescence is just some sort of fire that we all have to walk thru until we get to be grown ups and don't really care what everybody thinks. You get more self-esteem, more assured of yourself. When I think back to my 20's I cringe. Oh, was I bad at the dating game. Knowing how shy and awkward I was, how was I able to find my beloved Tim, have three babies, two dogs, two cats and an amazing life? Somehow it all has a way of working out. But when you're right smack dab in the middle of it, it's hard to believe that.
I'm thinking that's my job now. To help these kids see that when they are having a hard time, it's all going to be alright. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow. But it will all be alright. And sometimes you just gotta get on that unicorn bike and ride! Because haters gonna hate, but you don't have to listen. You're too busy with the wind in your hair, livin' the dream, ridin' that unicorn into the sunset!
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