On July fourth our kids took part in a quaint little small-town bicycle parade, complete with watermelon, kiddie games, children dressed up as the Declaration of Independence, and prizes for the best decorated bikes.
Two days prior, I went to Michael's Crafts and bought appropriately themed decor for them to tactfully affix to their bikes and helmets under my close supervision. And then 10 minutes after I got the stuff home Tai had already used 3 pounds of painter's tape, and had flags and pinwheels taped to each other, dangling off the handlebars. Sometimes basic physics escapes him. Not to mention artistry.
But, he pretty much did it himself and was absolutely beaming with pride at the finished product, insisting he take it for a spin around the neighborhood to try it out. His bike was adorned with garland, pinwheels, flags and sparkly ribbon. He was totally fixated on the idea that he might actually win a prize for his efforts.
Quynh, on the other hand, went for the whole less-is-more thing, but not in a classy way -- more like in a lazy way. She also insisted on doing it all herself, which meant she did not use the awesome garland I attempted to wrap around the frame of her trike. Her decorations consisted of flags on the handlebars and two tiny amounts of ribbon wound here and there around the frame. Very minimalist.
The fourth was disgustingly hot and humid, even at 9:30am, but the kids had a really fun time riding around in the middle of the street. Quynh was just there for the pure fun of it, but Tai was preoccupied with winning. He kept asking where the judges were and when the prizes would be handed out.
This little parade took itself very seriously, categorizing entrants into bikes, trikes, scooters, and costumes, and splitting each group by gender. Prizes were given for the "best" in each of these groups. And the competition was stiff. There were bikes and trikes so thoroughly decorated you could not see an inch of the underlying vehicle. Some had balloons, some even had flashing lights. As we stood there, melting in the heat, listening to them announce the winners, I was hoping for Tai to win and very pleased that Quynh didn't seem to even know what was going on--until they called her up for "best girls trike".
What?
She barely decorated it at all! What about the trikes with streamers and garland and shiny stars? Maybe the judges were rewarding Quynh for so obviously having done the decorating all by herself, when all the other little kids clearly had parental help? Nah, I am pretty sure she won just because she is so darned cute. It probably didn't matter what she was riding.
Of course I was happy for her. But I felt kind of awkward about it too, especially since Tai did not win in the boys bike category (where the competition was more serious). He had put in so much more time and effort than his sister, yet she won a prize. I guess we file this one under Life Lesson #17 -- shit ain't always fair.
