As most of you know, I have a three year old son. One of his favorite programs is Thomas the Tank Engine. We saw how much fun he had with the Thomas and Friends wooden trains so we purchased a table and many of engines, cars, and track feature. Note: Thomas paraphenalia is not for the financially challenged.
Our local hobby store sells Thomas at the back of the store. But to get there you have to travel through the electric train section. That's clever marketing on their part. As Zack progressed in age, the allure of Thomas begins to fade and the passion for trains that move themselves took over. For the last half year (from age 3.25) Zack spent less than five minutes in the Thomas area and the rest of the time looking at the electric train section dreaming of the day when he could have a 'real' train. To make matters worse, they now sell Thomas trains in HO scale.
So for Christmas this year, my wife and I decided to put together a train table for Zack. He's a little young (at 3.75) but we had our reasons for giving it to him this year.
1) he loves electric trains
2) Debbie has always wanted an electrain train set
3) I love electric trains.
Of course, a set of tracks nailed to a 4'x8' hunk of plywood wouldn't do. No, in typical fashion, we went overboard. Luckily for me, I'm not alone. I have a friend named Derek who, among other talents, is an incredible artist when it comes to all things miniature. This guy should have been one of the members of the Weta workgroup that created all those amazing scenes for Lord of the Rings.
So, I invited him to Texas from California for my birthday party and hijacked him for a few days of craft with plaster, styrofoam, and paint. He left within a few days with most of the tables form in place. Sad thing is, after two weeks of additional work, the thing still didn't get finished. Oh, don't get me wrong, its a three year old's dream but the product that was delivered Christmas day had a few spots the paint didn't fully cover and the turf had some thin spots. I didn't have a chance to finish putting the bushes, trees and shrubs in place. While it looks nice, it could have looked a lot nicer.
This was the year where Zack first realized the big guy in a red suit did more than just show up this time of year in malls. He brought things; really cool nice things. So, we took Zack to see Santa at church where he sat on the jolly old man's lap and told him he wanted trains and trucks. Santa asked if he wanted anything else but Zack assured him that was all. Apparently, even at three, Zack knows to ration requests to what you really, really want.
I have to say, to Zack, it doens't matter one bit. When he woke and walked into the living room he just stood there for a bit staring. Finally a big smile crossed his face and he yelled, "I GOT A TRAIN!"
It made all the hours of effort worth it and all those flaws I once saw went away. To my son it was the best train set ever. As I write this at 1:00 p.m. he hasn't left it since 6 a.m. this morning other than the occastional bath room break which occurs only after his bladder has reached bursting stage complete with the 'hold the pee pee dance'. As I was writing this I asked the wife if he had eaten today. The answer was 'no' so we provided a plate of food. Zack grabbed a bite without looking at the plate and shoved it into his mouth. After the frist swallow he relized he was, indeed hungry and devoured the rest of the food.
Sadly, Zack will never thank my friend or I for our creation. Santa did it all, you see. But still, after seeing the smile on my son's face I don't mind. Seeing him disappear into a world of trains and tunnels with a huge smile on himself if thanks enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment