Devastated!

Last weekend I had a heap of stuff that needed doing around the house.  I had the normal weekend jobs, and I was trying to bake some healthy snacks for the following week.

With a list of tasks on my mind, I hadn't planned anything in particular for the Little Big Fella.  Normally that's fine - he's quite good at entertaining himself.  But last weekend I had pleas and constant requests to play with friends!

So I made a decision to ensure that each weekend we tried to plan a time to play in one way or another.

With that in mind, mid-week I texted a bunch of friends to see if they were available/interested in going for a motorbike ride out the back of town.  There's a great place in the bush just up the hill that is basically flat, a little bit bushy, and perfect for young riders to race, play and practice.

Saturday morning we made our way up the hill and met our friends for a morning ride.  The kids were all having a blast, riding around the "track".  One of my friends commented that the Little Big Fella did a jump over a little bump in the track.

I went over to watch him and saw him do a couple of decent little jumps, getting air and everything!  I was so excited for him!  And he thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread!

I started walking back to where the adults were sitting and saw the Little Big Fella coming around the track and drop his bike.

This isn't a big deal.  He normally drops it once or twice when we go out there because of the sand, or he hits a small rock or whatever.

But this time he didn't pick it up.  He didn't even attempt to!

When I got over to him he was bawling his eyes out.  Again, not entirely unusual.  Last time we went out there he cried when he couldn't pick the bike up because it was losing fuel and he thought he'd have to stop riding for the day.

Well, this time turned out to be not much different.  The reason for the tears was the same (not being able to ride any more for the day), but this time it wasn't that he'd run out of fuel.  This time he'd managed to completely break the handlebars off his bike!!!

I honestly don't have the skill with words to describe the depth of his heartbreak!  The Little Big Fella was completely devastated!!!

I managed to get the bike back up on its wheels so that it stopped leaking oil everywhere then got the Little Big Fella's helmet off so that I could comfort him more effectively.

We got him to stop crying and the others ended up parking their bikes and they all went and played in the bush for the rest of the morning.

This is definitely one of those times that I'm grateful that the Big Fella has mechanical skills!  He had a look at it once we got home and is pretty confident that he can fix it.  But we've started looking at possibly replacing the bike for the Little Big Fella's birthday, because if he's going to keep jumping (and there's little chance of stopping him now!), the bike is probably going to need regular repairs!!!!