My Kids Want To Be Dirt Bike Racers

Last month my daughter comes home from the Supercross informing me how she thinks it would be so fun to ride dirt bikes.  My 13 year old daughter wants to learn to ride dirt bikes.  I had to say that out loud multiple times for it to sink in.  My first response was ‘what?! no way, you’re crazy’.  Then I finally said we’d look into it.  I guess it’s no worse than my 4 year old son telling me he wants to be a Monster Truck driver when he grows up right after cheering for the truck that got ripped apart at the Monster Jam.  However, at least he is only 4 and most likely to grow out of this phase and have many dreams before he’s old enough to live them.  My daughter on the other hand… she’s old enough to know the dangers which apparently is part of the thrill I assume.

Noah’s father rides a motorcycle on occasion and Noah is always wanting to go for a ride.  The excuse we have given him for the reason he can’t ride yet is that his dad hasn’t gone shopping for motorcycle helmets for him therefore it’s not safe.  Honestly that’s the truth yet neither of us have set a date for when that shopping trip is going to take place.  Noah even tried to convince us he could wear his tee-ball helmet when riding the motorcycle.

Since T knows Noah’s father rides motorcycles and has ridden dirt bikes in the past, she asked him if he could teach her.  Gasp!  Do you know what the cost of a dirt bike is?!  The motorcycle gear, helmets, boots, etc…  I was browsing around Helmet City and chocked with the thought of T’s new hobby idea.

Then last week I receive a text message from Noah’s dad that included this photo:

The caption read… “this is what I am getting Noah for Christmas.  Just put it on layaway”.  My response was literally a laugh out loud.  He had to be joking, right?!  He proceeded to tell me how it’s a great deal on a used dirt bike for only $700 which would only be $350 a piece if we split it.  Only…

His plan is to teach Noah how to ride a bike without training wheels this summer and get him prepared to learn to ride the dirt bike by end of the year.  Guess that means I’ll be shopping for bike helmets next.  I’m not sure I’m on board for any of this yet.  I know kids will be kids and boys will be boys.  I also know several boys at the age of 5 or 6 that rode dirt bikes.  But I’m still one of those mothers that gets very nervous even thinking about it.

Of course his father was joking about putting the dirt bike on layaway to gauge my reaction.  It is something he wants to do, however.  I guess we’ll see how it goes….  Wish me luck?

Are you the type of mother that gets nervous your kids will get hurt easily?  Would you like your son ride a dirt bike if he wanted?