Masi Soave, Inline Skates, Peer Pressure and Training Wheels.

Or lack of therein. Yup.....it`s D Day for Chelsea and time to remove the training wheels. In the pleasant late afternoon sun I steeled my nerves and prepared for the fear, tears and nagging self doubt of teaching a child to cycle a two wheeler with a glass of a 2005 Masi Soave....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Definitely a favorite.

It began as expected.....the "I can`t", "I`ll fall", "I`m scared" followed shortly thereafter by the crash, tears and denial. After an hour I persuaded Chelsea to try again and, albeit very tentatively, she got back in the saddle. I reassured her that she would figure it out and that all she had to do was practice, suck up the crashes and "just do it". Eventually she got better at her balance and we headed for the grassy knoll where she successfully rode her bike. Like the Wright brothers the flight was short but sucessful.

Another glass of Masi.

So...the local lads all got new inline skates at Sportchek who was having a sale. I ended up getting Josh a $250 pair for less than $50....last year`s clearance stock. Sweet! Needless to say I geared him up with my surplus Giro Eclipse helmet and he was good to go. I was cycing around the block making sure my bike was ready for tomorrow`s club ride when I spotted him, helmetless, with his friends. Yup.....peer pressure of being the only one with a helmet meant it was on the ground pretty quick. Needless to say after I got off my soapbox preaching about concussions and the fact I've had five in my 43 years I relented.There is that fine line between advice and nagging when it comes to teenagers. As Gord Downey wrote...."adolesence,in essense,is all about trust."

What`s a parent to do?I want to believe he is capable of making good choices but also have that protective instinct. Aghhhhhhh.........I can make sure he wears a helmet when he leaves the house but can`t make him keep it on! Crikey - I`m not that old that I don`t remember the way teenagers think. Of course his mother is angry at me to boot!(sigh)

Another glass of Masi. No....make that two please.

Marx(Lenin?) said that religion is the opiate of the people but Georgie boy thinks wine is the opiate of the parent. Pass the bottle of Masi while thoughts of adolesent peer induced smoking, drinking and intimacy scare the bejesus outta me....(wink).

My nerves!

Geo