The bike shop life can be pretty busy in the Summer . . . obviously.
Everyone at the shop helps out and we somehow get through it every year successfully, and seem to get even better at it the following year.
On the service and repair side of things we had Jon, and between him and I, we would hunker down and work long hours to get bikes repaired as quickly as we could, in the hopes of helping our community to ride their bikes, as opposed to waiting for them to be fixed.
Jon left for a new career with the RCMP this spring and despite having some new staff, who are amazing, he is a hard guy to replace, so we're busier than normal.
OK, that is not what my blog is about this week, we’re all busy, so who cares if I am. I agree,
I’ve been preaching at my kids to spend less time on screens and more time playing outside. It’s been a tough battle to say the least, but I like to believe I’m making progress in this mini war. Baby steps, right?
I built a pump track in our yard, we got a little trampoline, put up a slack line, and I built a Lacrosse/Hockey zone in our driveway. No excuses to be bored, yet, they still fall onto the couch with a device for a portion of each day. Drives me crazy.
Recently, my 13-year-old daughter read a book called “Anxious Generation.” In a nutshell, it is about how screen time has altered behaviours and caused all sorts of issues with our younger generations over the last 20 years.
It kind of freaked her out and she has now dropped screen time cold turkey. No I-pad, no Nintendo Switch, and no YouTube. If she is writing or reading she may grab the laptop, but that is it.
Great, right? Ah, maybe not . . .
Don’t get me wrong, I love that she has finally realized there are far more healthy types of entertainment and that doing is more fun that watching, but I never realized that the hour or two a day my kids are on a screen, was an hour or two a day I had to get stuff done, or maybe rest.
Lately, either before work or after . . . usually both, it sounds like this:
“Hey dad, can we ride the pump track?”
“Hey dad, let's do tricks on the tramp.”
“Hey dad, can we ride Lap land?”
“Hay dad, hey dad, hey dad.”
So before, or after, a long day at the shop, they can be relentless and I figure I can look at it two ways.
Life is hard and there is no rest for the wicked, I think this pace is going to kill me. OR. Life is short and I should make the best of it.
I have to admit I’m exhausted, but after an early morning Lap Land riding session with my kids and then rushing straight to Swicked to get back to work, I feel great, and wide awake.
I guess I'm lucky to do what I love for work, and even luckier to be constantly pestered by my kids to go play. I swear they will keep me young, whether I like it or not.
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin'...