For the past six months, 2-year-old Ire has had a sweet setup on his dad’s bike. Perched up front in a small baby bike seat with his own tiny set of handlebars, he’s had an unobstructed view of everything worth pointing out along the way.
Ire’s dad, who goes by Dim, has been posting videos of their rides on TikTok, which means plenty of other people have grown attached to seeing Ire in that spot, too. The toddler’s endearing little voice crying, “Weeeeee!” and the way he says, “Daddy, bird! Daddy, a river! Daddy, fire truck!” as he points to the world whizzing past them has gained the account millions of followers.
But that world tilted on a recent ride when Ire announced out of the blue, “Daddy, I want baby bicycle.”
After a weighty pause and a kiss on the top of his son’s helmet, Dim simply responded, “Okay.”
Watch:
The video has been viewed 65 million times, and the comments make it clear that “Okay” was not the answer viewers wanted to hear.
‘I want baby bicycle.’
Ire’s request for a”baby bicycle” was met with a collective, visceral “absolutely not” reaction from fans.
“No, he has to ride like that until he’s in his 30s,” one commented.
Another said, “This is the first time I’ve met you both and I’m not ready for a baby bicycle yet.”
“They just announced a bike shortage on the news,” quipped another.
“Let’s buy him ice cream so he forgets what he said,” another strategized.
One commenter jokingly decided it was actually Dim who wasn’t ready for this next step: “He’s way too young and obviously not ready for separate bikes!”
Unfortunately for everyone hoping Ire might forget about the whole thing, Dim was already preparing for his son’s next step. In a follow-up, he shared a quick-cut video of himself removing the child seat and little handlebars from his bike:
The end of an era? Respectfully, no.
People lost their minds. More than 35 thousand comments followed with fans voicing vehement denial and fervent imploring:
“PUT THOSE BACK NYOWWW.”
“hello police, I’d like to report a crime.”
“Oh naw…Somebody call the FBI, CIA, United Nations! Something!!!”
“Absolutely not 😑 I’m pretty sure this is listed in the Geneva war crimes.”
“Sir, imma need you to reassemble right NOW!”
“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see this so that way it isn’t real. Delusional till the end.”
“I just watched it in reverse, I’m doing fine.”
UrbanLight Mental Health even commented with: “🚨🚨 Therapists are standing by… because the internet is absolutely not okay right now. We’re not resting until everyone is emotionally okay. 🚨🚨”
The baby bicycle crisis no one was ready for
The campaign to save the seat didn’t stop in Dim’s comment section, though. People started making videos of their own, with “put the baby seat back” trending as people around the world begged and pleaded with Dim to stop the madness.
People claimed all the baby bicycle factories had burned down. Bargaining, not-so-subtle threats, and even real tears were involved. Swipe through to see a sampling of the video reactions:
When kids are ready before we are
Despite a good chunk of humanity refusing to let it happen, Ire wanting his own bicycle is exactly the kind of independence parents spend years encouraging. Riding up front with Dad eventually gives way to a set of handlebars of their own.
That doesn’t make it easier to swallow, though.
Psychologist Corinne Masur has written about the “small losses of everyday life” that can come with positive changes. Even when moving into a new phase of development is worth celebrating, parents can still miss the one that just passed.
It’s hard to know when a stage of childhood is ending while it’s still part of everyday life. There’s no warning that this will be the last time a kid asks for assistance tying a shoe. One day, they just don’t need help with that anymore. That sudden shift can be disorienting and come with conflicted feelings.
In Ire’s case, millions of people witnessed him asking for a bike of his own, and he was quite clear about it. Ire may be ready for it, and Dim may be, too, but the rest of us aren’t. We regret to inform them both that baby bicycles remain completely unavailable for the foreseeable future.
