If that glowing smile doesn’t say it all…

This kid was in heaven.

We are not ones to shy away from watching vehicles do their thing.  Whether that’s sitting near the valet at a restaurant to watch them park, or pulling over to the side of the road to wait for a train to whiz by, or parking near the airport to feel the rumble of jets speeding directly overhead.  Treats for Stevie.

So you can imagine my surprise that he has consistently shown little to no interest at automotive museums and local car shows.  It was baffling to me, until I figured out why.

The child needs action ok.

Moving cars, whizzing trains, speeding jets.  You see a pattern here.  Walking around a museum, being told he can’t touch anything? What’s the fun in that!

I made the connection after taking him to the LA Auto Show, which is really just a massive showroom.  You’re encouraged to test out the cars.  Really, go ahead!  Sit in them, fiddle with the dials, have at it.  Stevie wasted no time as he bolted from car to car jumping in and out, pretending to drive each one for about 10 seconds before moving onto the next.  We could barely keep up!

So I had a good feeling about this event where you climb in and out of city trucks, service automobiles, and emergency response vehicles.  At first, it was a bit overwhelming for him.  And he really stuck to the smaller vehicles.  Paul and I laughed as he shied away from the garbage truck and instead made a beeline for the actual custodian’s golf cart.

He eventually warmed up to tow trucks and a lifeguard jeeps, and it was the thrill of his life when he got to sit in a police car and see the lights flash.

Only to be upstaged by this moment – when he honked a horn on a delivery truck.  Makin’ me feel like mom of the year over here.