Unleashing the Train

My dear cousin Adele bought The Boy a Brio Starter Set. A year ago. Almost.

It's a little embarrassing.

See, he just wasn't ready a year ago. He didn't get the whole train thing. He had (has, still) a low frustration threshold for stuff he can't do well. (Whose child is this?)

Okayokayokay. I was saving the set for a rainy, I can't stand it any longer, I need him completely engrossed for ten minutes day. And I didn't feel like tripping over and stepping on One More Thing.

But today was the day. Matt needed a pick-me-up and I needed a break.

Oh, what a lovely toy for The Boy.

He spent the entire evening with Dad arranging and rearranging. Laying the tracks in the front room. Laying the tracks in the living room. Lining the train cars up one way. Lining them up another. Oh, the Options.

There was one point where neither Matt nor I could find the engine. The Boy watched us for a while. Bemused. Then when he thought neither of us was looking, he toddled over to the vacuum cleaner, opened the storage box and hauled the engine out from its secret place. Sneaky kid.




The party really began once a circle was made of the tracks. Then it was both a train track AND a corral. The animals were lined up inside and each got to hold a train car. Then the Case tractor was brought in to restore order.

And The Boy stayed in one spot for maybe nine minutes.









As The Boy was winding down for the night, he gathered up all the train cars and tucked them around him in the beanbag. He gave them pats, examined them closely and then ran each one up and down the dog's spine. Then we said goodnight to them all and called it a day.

Nice job, Adele. Thanks.