Bad to the Bone

Ethan has recently acquired a taste for bike riding. His mother, in all her generosity, has purchased a bike for him to ride (a DI special). Ethan has taken to riding it like a duck to water. He will ride circles around the carport next to the home, and up and down the sidewalk near our home. At the moment, he has training wheels to assist him. His father is determined to have him riding without training wheels, and, following the purchase of a helmet and perhaps elbow pads, will promote the idea to Ethan. Already he is being trained in the school of hard knocks to go fast but carefully, especially around corners. In fact, on one particular ride he crashed three times in a row because of high uncontrolled speeds around a bend on a park trail. He cried for the first two, was mad, and needed comfort. Apparently the experience scared him a bit. But after a brief explanation from his father that crashing was a part of riding bikes, and after it became less scary, he got right up on the third crash saying "I'm OK-I'm OK-I'm OK". A true warrior. That's my boy!