One Small Step

To say I am an overprotective mother would be an understatement.  Being such a person has done a disservice to my son and myself.  If there was a club for being a worry wart, I would be their poster child.  When Mancub was very small I wanted to wrap him in bubble wrap before sending him out to play.  Clearly my parents' parenting style didn't rub off on me. They let us climb high trees, jump off the porch into a pile of leaves and some how we managed to remain intact. Mom and Dad may have been worried sick each time we set out to ride our bikes in a look-ma!-no hands manner down the hill just to say we did it, but if there was concern, they never let on.  My siblings and I joke that in the summers mom would lock us out of the house until it was dark.  As long as a police car didn't escort us home or no call from the hospital was received, she was content.  We learned during that time just how burglar proof our home was not.  We'd sneak in the basement through a window to find refuge from the heat and humidity.  Some of this information may or may not be Evergreen Avenue myth.

I digress.

Yesterday, Mancub and Big A (our summer guest -- he's here long enough to require a pseudonym) were in need of entertainment outside the house.  Of course I was scheduled to work the afternoon/evening shift so it would limit how much they could do that required transportation.  Aroma Park is NOT buzzing with venues.  Getting to Kankakee requires tricky maneuvering on busy, dangerous roads if going by bike or foot.  Back in MY day, riding our bikes such a distance on a road without a safe shoulder wouldn't be a big deal, but remember I am queen worrier. Plus, there weren't foolish cell phone users behind the wheel of the car. 

As I was on my way out the door, it dawned on me that it's nonsense that two teen age boys were trapped indoors.  Kankakee has a busing system. For a buck the boys could go anywhere in the area.  That's exactly what they did.  Armed with a cell phone, a sense of adventure and enough cash to pay for admittance to the movies and bus fare, they plotted their afternoon.  To my knowledge, they accomplished this without incident.  Mancub and Big A finally got to see "Avatar: The Last Airbender," and I'm spared having to watch it.  Win!

I hope this is just the beginning of good times for my boys.  Creating memories and being able to return to school with stories to tell that go beyond how far they got in a new video game makes me feel much better.

photo credit: Life Has No Script