Skates, bicycles, hoverboards—what’s next?
When we lived in Siren Wisconsin where I started school, summers were short and winters long, cold, and packed with snow, often starting in September.
From a very young age, kids learned to ice skate. My older sister Karin was several years ahead of me in elementary school and still had no ice skates. All she wanted for her September birthday was a pair of ice skates.
Yet our pastor father’s salary didn’t stretch much beyond necessities. But my father was resourceful. For her birthday Karin received her wish—a pair of white skates just her size. They were not new, but my mother had made them look new with polish, etc. Karin could now join her friends in what most all kids did in the winter—ice skating, along with sledding, of course. Perfect pastimes for long Wisconsin winters.
Back then summers brought the need for a type of transportation Karin also didn’t have, a bike. It wasn’t easy to hang out with friends or head to one of the lakes to swim without a bike. It was our main transportation as kids and teens.
She and I stared at shiny new bicycles through the store window. Karin so desired a bike. But again, our folks couldn’t afford a new bike. Instead, Dad went to the junkyard and scrounged for bicycle parts. From who-knows-how many old bikes, he took parts home, straightened, cleaned, and created a whole new bike which he and Mom painted and polished. Mom tied on a bow and Karin received her bike.
She could be like most young people of that era who used bicycles for transportation. I learned to ride on that large bike, after a lot of crashes because it was too big for me. I didn’t get a smaller version of Dad’s created bikes until after we moved to Wyoming.
A generation later our kids got bikes, but the new rage was inline skates. We were able to purchase off-brand ones for our kids, Chris and Cassie. Chris put them on and took off. Cassie not so much, though Chris tried to show her how to balance. Chris used those skates to go all over Kearney.
The Back to the Future movies were released as our kids were growing up. We all loved the series. Who didn’t want a hoverboard to get around? While they don’t zoom in the air, hoverboards now exist for a new generation of kids. They stay on the ground but can be used for fun or even transportation. It does take balance. Lots of balance.
A friend of our then 6-year-old granddaughter Ellery had a hoverboard. After getting the hang of it, of course, she wanted one for Christmas. (The kids already had bikes.) We talked about it. Mom Cassie said, “If she has one, her younger brother will also want one.” (He’s two years younger.) With a sigh, Cassie gave us permission to get the kids hoverboards for Christmas. This is this generation’s new fun play toy and more. We bought colorful hoverboards with fun lights that flashed as they moved.
To my amazement, it didn’t take long for Ellery and Zeke to get the hang of getting around, spinning, crashing, and almost dancing with the hoverboards. I’m glad we bought them, especially knowing the kids are closely supervised.
Ice skates, bikes, inline skates, hoverboards. Something new and different for each generation. Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy watching the smiles of our grandkids’ faces as they zoom around on their hoverboards.
Now I understand why my folks went to so much time and trouble to make sure my sister got skates and a bike. Not only to be able to fit in with her friends but because the gratitude on the kid’s faces makes all the effort worthwhile. Nothing can beat the resulting smiles and thank-you hugs. (Months after receiving them, our grandkids still love their hoverboards.)
I wonder what our great-grandchildren will be asking for?
© 2024 Carolyn R Scheidies
Published as Scheidies’ column in the Kearney Hub 4/20/2024
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