|
QUESTION:Right now he wants to drive a garbage truck. That's okay,
because he says I get to drive a forklift when I, er, grow up.
we have a friend who answers only to "Blue Tractor." something to do
with Bob the Builder, i gather.
the blue character on Bob the Builder is Lofty the crane
ANSWER: Can Chris name them? Yes he can!
(Though you're still going to be in Big Trouble once
Tiana learns to spell "Roley")
(more about kids and vehicles, but also about naming things --
skip now if you're not interested)
One of the things I was not anticipating with parenthood was
learning all about trucks and heavy equipment. I can now
identify backhoes, excavators, graders and other trucks
that were all simply "trucks" before. I have to know, because
if I don't, Kyle or some other kid will correct me.
One day when Kyle and I were in Toys 'R' Us, we went
to see the ride-on vehicles. There was a bright yellow
kid-sized piece of construction equipment with pedals
and a moveable scoop. Even I thought it was cool and
Kyle really dug it. The sign on the toy said "Excavator".
Kyle asked what it was and I read the sign. A five
year old kid nearby said "That's not an excavator.
That's a loader."
I lamely replied that the sign said "Excavator" and thought
the kid was mistaken. That was before "My First Truck
Board Book".
This book has photographs of dozens of trucks. By age 2,
Kyle could name them all. "What's this one called?"
"What's this one called?" With Kyle, *anything* with wheels
has always had its own appeal, but it seemed to be twice
as potent when the item has its own name. And, indeed,
the toy in question was a loader, not an excavator.
Kyle is totally into Thomas the Train right now. I think that
the appeal of Thomas is like Bob, but on a bigger scale --
every piece of equipment has a name and a personality.
And there are tons of them. And heaven help you if you
can't tell them apart. But the kids can. One of the Thomas
DVDs has a game where you 'paint' the engine -- the train is
shown without any color and you have to pick the right one.
I couldn't tell them apart, but Kyle knew which was which,
what the name for each was, and what the color should be.
Thomas (in particular) was a kids' phenomenon that was
scary for me. I was hoping to avoid it because the toys
themselves are expensive and they foster a "gotta have
it all" consumerism in very small kids, which made me
uncomfortable. I distinctly remember seeing a Thomas store
in a San Diego mall some six or seven years ago, and I thought
how foolish it was for parents to let their kids get caught up in
such junk.
But, that was before Kyle found a Thomas video --
"Thomas' Trackside Tunes" -- at the library. I had told him
he could pick out one video, and that's what he picked.
Oh well, I thought. What's the harm?
I had *no* idea. Within a minute of starting the tape, I was
horrified. The "music". Aaugh. Cloying, sugary kiddie
tunes that seemed designed for maximum annoyance.
The "animation". "Stop-motion" doesn't even begin to describe it,
since one is hard-pressed to see when the motion *starts*.
Tony looked at me with the same kind of "*what* have you
brought into our home" expression that I got when I bought a set
of drums for Kyle.
Predictably, Kyle *loved* it. Trips to the library became difficult
because Kyle wanted to check it out all the time, and it wasn't
always there. "Maybe they have Thomas songs!" Kyle would say.
We'd check out other Thomas videos, and I'd periodically drop
in on other libraries, too.
Of course I finally broke down and bought the damned tape.
I managed to find a copy that came with one of the trains
("Toby" as it turns out) for no more than the tape would have cost
otherwise. And, when we watched our very own copy of Thomas'
Tunes, I realized that now I actually *like* the songs.
Really, honest to God *like* them. It's like root beer on DS9:
"It's so bubbly and cloy and happy. But do you know what's
really frightening? If you drink enough of it, you begin to like it."
Michael, who found similar peace with the Teletubbies, but has
fortunately been spared Barney and the Wiggles. Kyle just
doesn't like them.
|
|
|
|
