As any parent knows, unwarranted advice is plentiful--your baby's too warm, too cold, you're doing it wrong, etc. It seems like parenting on a bike makes us even more exposed to judgement. My kid would scream if I was buckling him into a carseat, too, so don't mind us. We can't hide our tantrums behind steel frames and rolled up windows. When my kids are grumpy, the whole street knows about it. They argue with each other about who gets to hold the water bottles (I now try to remember to bring one for each but sometimes one is emptier and all hell breaks loose), fight over which direction we go (alley way or spooky forest?), and whine not seeing the cat on the fence. Somedays I just let them yell and then we have competitions over who has the louder outdoor voice. It's wonderfully cathartic.
Just a few days ago, a man walked by with some coworkers and mentioned that our Bullitt was a "cute little toy" while I was trying to buckle a squirming and overly exhausted Little Brother into his seat. Next he walked right up to us and asked me what was wrong with my kid. Through gritted teeth, I forced out a smile and said "he's just tired." Without getting the hint, this guy launches into a monologue about how the "wheat in this country is not like the wheat in the rest of the world" and how I "must read an amazing book called Wheat Belly because..." I stopped him right there, looked into his eyes and told him "I'm not interested." He actually stopped talking and I repeated that I wasn't interested in what he was saying.
An unexpected benefit of riding our bikes around town with our kids is that I just don't care what other people think about us anymore. I know that we're doing right by our children by providing them the foundation of an active, eco-friendly, low-impact, and most importantly, fun life. They get to experience the world going by at a slow pace with open senses. My skin might be a little thicker but I'm also so much stronger, emotionally and physically. I always tell people that biking keeps me sane in this crazy world. Thank goodness I'm on my bike just about every day.
Just a few days ago, a man walked by with some coworkers and mentioned that our Bullitt was a "cute little toy" while I was trying to buckle a squirming and overly exhausted Little Brother into his seat. Next he walked right up to us and asked me what was wrong with my kid. Through gritted teeth, I forced out a smile and said "he's just tired." Without getting the hint, this guy launches into a monologue about how the "wheat in this country is not like the wheat in the rest of the world" and how I "must read an amazing book called Wheat Belly because..." I stopped him right there, looked into his eyes and told him "I'm not interested." He actually stopped talking and I repeated that I wasn't interested in what he was saying.
An unexpected benefit of riding our bikes around town with our kids is that I just don't care what other people think about us anymore. I know that we're doing right by our children by providing them the foundation of an active, eco-friendly, low-impact, and most importantly, fun life. They get to experience the world going by at a slow pace with open senses. My skin might be a little thicker but I'm also so much stronger, emotionally and physically. I always tell people that biking keeps me sane in this crazy world. Thank goodness I'm on my bike just about every day.
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