Cassie wants to ride. Mom tells me she’s dead tired

The main role for us, as parents, is simple. Everyone’s born with a talent….at least one but not without. Never without one. Everyone’s good at something…that’s what I think and there’s nothing you can do to convince me otherwise! Well, a friend of mine shares this opinion and some years back, her five-year-old daughter, Cassie, displayed an interest in riding bikes…as in dirt bikes and not bicycles. Cassie is not your conventional Barbie Doll girl. Some people call her Cassie a tomboy but when you speak to her, you’ll change your mind. Cassie is soft-spoken and behaves in the most well-mannered way expected of a little girl her age. She says her Ps and Qs and gives me a hug every time I ask for it.

The mother, Rebecca, has been lamenting to me about how tired she was with Cassie’s obsession with dirt biking. Oh, there’s nothing wrong with her grades of whatever…she’s doing fine. Not Valedictorian material but she’ll do fine. But she’s doing amazingly well racing all around the country on her dirt bike, kicking up dirt and flinging mud with other dirt bike racers.

Now, there are a couple of problems with this picture.

One, the parents are a little tired. Rebecca says that whilst her husband and her are extremely supportive of their daughter’s pursuit, they have to alternate taking time off to accompany Cassie to and from all the races that she attends. Being in the work force, it can piss the boss off…unless you have a boss like mine (Hint! Hint!) “Now, we alternate between each of us. And on top of it, her mentor and coach have agreed to take charge of her whenever she goes for a race. We have no choice but to trust him and cross our fingers”, sighs Rebecca.

I ask her if she’s concerned about the cost of taking these cross-country trips all the time. And she replies in the affirmative. “Yes, it’s expensive, what do you think?!” she laughs. “But you know what? If this is what she wants to do and she thinks it’s worth her time, we will provide her with as much support as possible. It’s my job as a parent to ensure that she pursues what’s important to her in life. So we cut back a little on the holidays and gifts and stuff…we make do, I guess”.

What about safety? Cassie is now twelve and competing in many dirt bike races all over the country. Safety in terms of traveling so far all the time and safety on the dirt bike. Racing a dirt bike is, without a doubt, a dangerous game to play. Injury or accidents can make a world of difference to a girl like her, emotionally, mentally and physically too. Rebecca answers, “That’s why we go to church every Sunday!” and we laugh over that one. But she continues, “You know, because of the dangers of racing a dirt bike at her age, we all stand in a line before the race kicks off, do our little prayer thing. We’re not praying for a win, although many people think this is what parents do. But what we, parents, are doing is actually praying that our kids will cross the finish line safely”.

It’s great that kids her age have a direction and purpose so young in life. I cannot remember the number of times I changed my ambition over my young days. From a fire fighter to a mail man, I thought I wanted to be a doctor until I saw the body of a dog rolled over by a truck one day outside my house. Eek!

For young Cassie to have so much enthusiasm for a sport that she loves, I commended Rebecca for sticking to it and hanging it in there for Cassie.

Cassie girl….race on, gurl!