Motorcycle, Go!

When Katie was about two years old, she L-O-V-E-D cars and motorcycles and trash trucks and anything with wheels. She would see a motorcycle and would shout, "Motorcycle, go!" By the time she was three, she knew the make and model of almost every car on the road. Her favorite was a Dodge Ram (followed closely by PT Cruisers), so we had a Dodge Ram birthday party for her. It was a blast.

Fast forward four years later, and her little brother also has a special love for anything with wheels. He also shouts, "Motorcycle, go!" Back in August, I took him to see heavy machinery at a local rental place. He loved it.

In that same vein, I decided to take him to the local Harley Davidson store today to check out the motorcycles. He was so incredibly happy there. He bounced from machine to machine. He called the motorcycles by their colors saying, "Hewwo, gween motuh-cycuh." He ran from one to the other saying, "Mommy, wook at dat! Can I ride it?"

Surprisingly, he even volunteered for photos with the motorcycles, standing by them and posing on his own.

He was in HOG heaven. (Pun intended.)

We were outside the store and he got to see all the customers arriving on their motorcycles, and he loved hearing their motors roar. Some of the drivers got a kick out of seeing him get so excited, although others seemed to be annoyed by the little boy who was so enthusiastic. (One of the store employees didn't seem too pleased by us, either.)

Jackson kept asking, "Can I ride it?" I kept telling him no, and told him not to touch the motorcycles. But before I knew it, he bolted over to a red one and raised a leg as if he was about to climb it. Just as I shouted, "NO!" he turned and said, "Ow!" He put his knee onto one of the hot pipes and burned it. Luckily, he was distracted by all the other motorcycles and didn't even cry, but I know it hurt. Badly. I burned my leg on a Harley pipe two Christmases ago, and it is painful.

So, now, Jackson has his first motorcycle wound. I feel awful for him, and wish I had been in front of his mad dash to the red motorcycle and been able to block him. I just wasn't fast enough. The pediatrician recommended ice, ibuprofen and Neosporin. Let's hope he heals quickly!

I love encouraging my kids' interests, but I think we'll take a break from machinery field trips for a while.