Some dose of anxiety

What are the things that scare you? Me? The thought of my son riding his motorcycle!!! From the very beginning I have already made up my mind, I am not going to allow him to ride a motorcycle, no way!! Hey what news do we get on newspaper, I mean besides the sensational political issues?? Yes, you said it rightly, accidents happening almost everyday, irrespective of time, location etc etc!!!

Road accidents seem never really happened without involving motorcyclists and most of the accidents were serious if not fatal. So when my son reached the age to get his motorcycle licence, he started to pester me to buy him one. I said no. He kept telling me many of his friends were riding their motorcycle to school and he has to ride as a pillion on his friend’s bike. I relented after my brothers told me that as a boy, it is good for him to know how to ride a bike and also because of our heavy traffic, bikes are easier and faster. My brothers also told me that even if he does not ride a bike, he is on his friend’s bike as a pillion, the danger is still there. Finally he passed his licence and we got him a secondhand bike. Boy, did I regret my decision!

The minute he got his bike, he went out to modify his bike and the engine was so loud that each time he started the engine, my heart went boom boom boom! I do not know how he handled his bike or rather his bike manhandled him because within three months he got his bike, he got into so many road accidents that I developed a phobia whenever he gets on his bike. Each time he went out, my heart will start beating heavily and I will start praying. Can you imagine worrying from the moment he leaves the house on his bike till he returns home. Boy, at times its worrying for hours and too often till late nights!! And each time my handphone or my hubby’s handphone rang and we saw the call was from our son, we started to panic.

One morning he started his bike to go to school as usual. Then 10 minutes later I heard a familiar sound, it was his bike’s noisy engine. I knew something was wrong. So I quickly ran downstairs to see what happened and sure enough, he told me he skidded while making a turn. Gees, he must have been trying to imitate Michael Schumacher . When I looked at his wounds on his knees and his hands, shit I turned squeamish. The wounds were so deep and covered with blood. Of course I have to do the dressing for him lah. He still has the sense of humour to tell me his wound on his knee looked like “bak kua (barbequed minced meat)”. His joke turned me off bak kua because whenever I wanna eat bak kua I will think of his bloody wound.. yuckks!!! Subsequently my husband and I made a firm stand to sell off his bike after so many incidents of near heart attack.

After the bike episode, we got him a car. The first time he took us to my mother’s place for dinner which is about 10 minutes drive. His car’s air-conditioning was functioning well but somehow I was sweating profusely and my hands were gripping the handle of the door tightly. My feet were stepping on the floor board so hard (subconsciously applying the brakes of the car) each time I saw that he was driving too near the car in front. You can’t blame me for being a coward because my guts have shrunk after my son’s so many bike accidents. Though his driving was not bad for a boy who just got his licence and also the fact that he just drove on the road for a few times only . But the problem is at that time he seem to forget how to use the brakes… I think. I guess it was because during his driving lessons, his driving instructor was the one stepping on the brakes most of the time so he had no chance to use them (I am sure you all know that all the cars from driving schools are fitted with extra pair of brakes on the passenger seat where the instructor sits) So when he wanted to turn left or right, he just did not slow down or step on the brakes, he just made the turn with the same speed he was driving like F1 drivers. Can you imagine how the car swerved when he made the turning. Gosh, now you know why I was sweating profusely. When we reached my mom’s place, I told my son that I was sweating at the back seat and my hands were aching (from gripping the handle too hard) and my feet felt very tired (from stepping on the imaginary brakes so hard and so many times). He looked at me with a black face (due to our grumblings in the car) and asked me not to insult his driving.

The other day my husband was asking my daughter whether she wants to learn to ride a bike. I scolded him for giving her such a stupid idea. I am not gonna let my daughter ride a bike and have to go through the anxiety all over again. I think this time my heart won’t be able to withstand the “excitement” anymore and it will probably stop beating.

So you see being parents can be hazardous to health, especially when your kids are full of surprises!!!