Sunday, May 18, 2008

BMX Superstar

Friday night, Colter and I went for yet another walk. I decided to take it out of my neighborhood for a change of scenery. I have been stalking houses looking at the landscaping and getting ideas. I like to stay in the "older" parts of town. The trees are large and many of the flowers are what grandma would have had. Right up my alley.

I passed the Kerrie Meyer residence and her door was open. I saw movement, so I yelled Kerrie Meyer Rocks. No one came running out, so I assumed they thought there was some crazy outside and went into hiding. :O) We did manage to get into one house.....but it was family. They didn't have much of a choice. After visiting with family for a bit, I decided to head back home. Colter was getting tired and so was I.

When we were a block from home, I see the naughty little neighbor kids are out. Naughty, because I don't think they have much adult supervision. One of the boy's starts yelling at me.

Boy: Hey! Will you watch me? I want to show you something.
Me: (argh.) What do you want to show me?
Boy: Just watch. (dragging a ramp out to the sidewalk.) I can jump this on my bike.
Me: (Oh!) You should be careful. You could get hurt.
Boy: No I won't. I have done it before.
Me: Okay. Be careful.

I continue walking, because I really don't want to witness this kid crack his skull open. And I really just want to get home.

Boy: I'm ready. Are you going to watch me?

Awe fiddle sticks! I could tell this kid was just dying for some attention. I very well couldn't just ignore him. So I stopped and turned around to watch him.

Me: Okay. I'm watching.

He rides like mad, gets to the ramp and his bike gets stuck on the top.

Me: Good Job!
Boy: I can do better. I can go much higher. Do you want to see? Please?
Me: Okay. Lets see it.

Once again, he rides like mad and this time he clears the ramp.

Me: (clapping.) Wow! That was great! Your pretty darn good. You better keep practicing. Some day when your a famous BMX superstar, I want your autograph.
Boy: I can do it with no hands. Will you watch me?
Me: (I had to draw the line here.) No way. I don't want to see that. That would scare me.

I turn around and take off for home, as quickly as I can. I am trying to make my escape. The boy comes riding his bike past me and turns the corner. When I get to the corner, I turn the opposite way, because my house is across the street.

Boy: Where are you going?
Me: I have to go home.
Boy: You do?
Me: Yep.

I felt so bad for the little guy. He seemed very bummed that he couldn't follow me on my walk. He was obviously desperate for some attention. I hope our 10 minutes of interaction made him feel good, but I know it was no where near enough.

6 comments:

Tess said...

Heart breaking. I feel so sorry for children that are being raised in situations where they aren't given the attention the deserve! I am sure he was excited that you watched him and more importantly praised him! Just think of what a difference we could make if everyone took 10 minutes to show affection/attention to someone who needs it!

First Time Mommy said...

It makes me so sad to hear about kids that get little to no attention from their parents. I'm sure your 10 minutes made him feel like someone cared...even if it was for 10 minutes. At least you gave him some attention and cheered him on. Good for you! :)

Tracy said...

Awww...that was so nice of you Miah!! I am sure you made his day!!

Jamie said...

and to think there are a lot of kids out there that never have their parent's attention...just sad!!

Kerrie said...

Natey saw you one night and came running "COLTER'S MOM JUST WENT BY THE HOUSE!!!! SHE JUST WALKED BY!!!" It was big news.

Just think - you used to only be Big Miah. ;)

Tamara B. said...

Poor kid. Hope your few min's with him made a dif. in his day.