It wasn’t the nature of the article that made me feel older. It was the fact that when I read the following, I thought about how cool it would actually be to do the same with my children:

My son’s school has a written rule that students in grades K-4 may not ride their bicycles to school. My son and I cheerfully ignore this restriction; I think school rules belong on campus, not off. As we ride together each day, I remember the Huffy Sweet ‘n’ Sassy I rode to school when I was a kid. Hot pink, with a flowered wicker basket, it stood out among the other bikes parked in the crowded racks, its tall orange safety flag flapping in the breeze.

And it would be cool. At least, I think it would be cool. I can imagine three negatives. First, perhaps my child could be made fun of, exactly as the article depicts with a question like, “don’t you have the money to buy a car?” Second, I’d have to live closer to the school, and having a few kids in a few schools might get complicated. Then again, I guess at a certain point it isn’t cool to ride to school with your dad anyway. And third, it seems like bikes are safe nowhere nowadays from vandals. Then again, maybe I’m jaded. Maybe I have a little hyper-anxiety, like lots of parents out there about their children, except I believe the same fate may lie for my bike. I think I’ll have to change that mindset… or move to a nicer area.