Drew, my twenty-eight-month-old son, is obsessed with trains. Thomas the Tank Engine, specifically, but, also trains generally. He talks about trains all day long, every day. He wakes up and says "Watch Thomas and Friends?" We have to fight with him to get him to wear a non-Thomas t-shirt and Heaven forbid if he should lose track of his precious wooden "James" engine.
I have two comments about this -- 1) I never realized how many train-related things there are in the world (e.g., in the car -- train tracks!; at the park -- choo! choo! I hear the train!; movie about Chicago -- look at the El, it's a train!) and 2) I have sung the Thomas the Tank Engine theme songs so many times now that I have taken to dissecting it musically in my mind because I just cannot stand to have it run through my head in one inane, repeating piece anymore.
But, the funny rejoinder to this post is this -- last night, we were driving back from the beach LATE (it was after midnight) and had just stopped at a gas station, so Drew woke up from sleeping. As we were sitting at the gas station, we heard a train go by (see comment above) and he got all excited. When we hit the road again, we drove through a section where a skunk had been hit and that nasty smell filled the car -- Drew's comment? Nasty train! Stinky train! Brooke and I just started laughing hysterically and confirmed that indeed it WAS a nasty, stinky train! Evil parents, I know, but, if you have to keep your half-asleep toddler entertained in the car after midnight in the midst of being skunked (literally), I think it is okay to not correct your toddler's misimpressions.
The Bernheisel List, 2023
4 months ago
2 comments:
Is that kind of like how I threaten to punch Joshua every time we hear a motorcycle?
Negative conditioning--use it to your advantage. Pavlov would be proud.
Maybe you could get some skunk-smelling spray and secretly let it loose every time you are made to sing the Thomas the Tank Engine song?
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