It was almost ten years ago, but a friend from the first grade responded to a blog I had written. In the blog, I acknowledged that I had gotten into trouble with my son for allowing Jake, my youngest grandson (age 6) to drive the car, sitting in my lap, from our gate to our house without the use of a seatbelt.
In some respects, my son, Craig back then, was very much like his mother regarding organization, structure, accountability, and the need to stay the course on any plan of action. Variation was not a concept that came easily for either. Consequently, when you understand the importance of safety you teach your child from their earliest memory that “wheels don’t move until everyone has their seatbelt locked in place.”
I told Jake that he didn’t need a seat belt to ride from our gate to the house when Jake was insisting to me that he needed the seat belt. Craig provided gentle redirection, but I remember the experience 10 years later. Once gently redirected for the error of my ways, I understand the need for a no exception policy. I applaud it. I was wrong, either that or I should not have told my son what we had done. How’s that for mixed messages?
My friend responded to my confession by suggesting: “You could haul the grandkids back and forth from your house to the gate in the back of your pickup. He confided: “I have such fond memories in the bed of my grandfather’s 1956 Chevy.” He went on to write: “When my grandson was little, I let him ride in the back from our house to one down the street. I had my eye on him the whole time and we could have walked faster than I drove. It was a distance of about half a block. His Mama said: ‘Never again’”.
I have the same kind of memories associated to riding in the back of my grandfather’s pickup. We stood in the back holding onto the headache rack while he drove 50 mph. Obviously, our guardian angels were working overtime or we wouldn’t still be here. Ten years ago, I would have been horrified for my grandkids to stand up in the back of a pickup and hang on for dear life. Today, they have more sense.
My friend wrote: “Don, We live in a different world than we grew up in. I watch it change daily. Too much of it, I don’t understand.”
All My Best!
Don
Carpe Diem 