where wildly different is perfectly normal
How much do you love your kids?
How much do you love your kids?

How much do you love your kids?

Do you love them enough to ensure they’re eating properly?
Do you love them enough to make sure they’re buckled into your car safely?
Do you love them enough to make sure they’re wearing a helmet when they’re on anything with wheels?

Do you love them enough to do all those things yourself?

It’s a beautiful day here in Colorado today. Insanely gorgeous for March. And so moms are out on bikes with their kids enjoying the sunshine. Coming back from the rec center this morning I passed two different bike-riding moms; neither one was wearing a helmet. The mom pulling her kids in a trailer didn’t have helmets on the kids either.

Besides the battles those women are going to have with “do as I say, not as I do” in the future, they are putting their families at risk. I rarely go off on other moms here. RARELY. I think we all have our own personal hells to deal with as parents, and I’m not about to criticize another mom’s parenting decisions. BUT. This is pure safety. How’s the life insurance, mom? Paid up? Do you have enough coverage that your family can replace you with hired services? Have you marked yes to organ donation on your drivers license? You look young and healthy; I mean, you’re pulling kids behind you uphill. Those strong lungs will go a long way towards healing someone on the transplant list. Hope you have a good support network, too. Your kids are going to miss their mommy. You know, the one who used to take them on bike rides…before…

There is no excuse, none, for not wearing a bike helmet. If it doesn’t fit over your ponytail, take out the damned ponytail. If it chafes, don’t ride until you get a new one. If you don’t have one, don’t ride until you get a new one. All it takes is a distracted driver, blinded by the bright Colorado sun, to change your family’s lives forever. I’m more than happy to share the road with cyclists. I pull over as far as I can, often into the other lane, to give them room. I recognize that I’m in a well-protected vehicle and they’re sitting on top of a metal frame with nothing covering them but wind.

So. Moms. Put on the goddamned helmet. By not wearing one, you’re not only putting yourself at risk, but your family as well. You’re teaching your kids that they don’t need to do what you say, because you don’t even do it. Hypocrisy is not a lesson you want to teach your child. Shut up and put on the helmet.

Then go enjoy this beautiful Colorado March day.

5 Comments

  1. You tell em! 🙂

    Here’s a question for you, do you make your kids wear helmets if they aren’t anywhere near a street? My kids love to ride their bikes around our backyard and DH and I aren’t in agreement about helmets when they’re in the yard riding vs. near a street. Just curious.

  2. I wish a helmet was all it took to stay safe. My cousin is completely paralyzed from the neck down (think Christopher Reeves) after a woman blinded by the sun plowed into him when he was on an early morning ride, training for a triathlon.

    Now he can’t even breathe on his own, let alone hold his brand new granddaughter.

    At least he was wearing a helmet, right?

  3. AmazingAmma

    Hear hear!

    I’m so pleased that helmets are MANDATORY where I live, but people are getting complacent. Even here (where it’s law to wear a helmet when cycling), I see too many people (of all ages) riding with no helmet, on roads, near cars, down hills. I hold my breath each time and hope.

    I’m so shocked that there are mothers out there who are ok with other people raising their kids, who are ok with missing out on their children’s lives and who are ok with the potential of putting their children through that grief.

Whaddya think?

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