Trucks: A Love Story

I am not all that surprised that my toddler son is extremely excited about all forms of transportation. He points to the sky and says "armane" when an airplane flies over head. He gets giddy when a cyclist zooms past the house on a "bie." He enjoys watching the "tray" that rumbles through our town taking all the commuters to Boston. But, without a doubt, trucks are his favorite. In the world of my son, they are the gods of transportation. Nothing incites more hysteria than when a large dump truck or gas truck drives past our house. He points and screams as loudly as possible, "TRUUHHHHH!" If there are several trucks in a row, he completely looses his mind. When Cole was first born, I was concerned about living on a busy street. We've been very careful to protect him from the Massholes that drive around here. But, I am ironically grateful to have all these cars flying past our house each day because they provide hours of entertainment and happiness to Cole. He loves watching them and pointing out each truck that goes by. He sometimes even does a little victory dance when a particularly cool truck happens to go past our house.

I've been curious why trucks, or transportation in general, are so interesting to small kids. My husband thinks it's because they are big, loud and have lots of things on them. Certainly a valid rationale, but I can't help but wonder if there is some deep, emotional thing buried in the psyche of a toddler that causes them to be incredibly excited about trucks. I mean, if I saw an adult acting the same way about a truck, I would think they were 1.) mentally retarded, 2.) insane, or 3.) just a little strange. But, when a toddler shows such enthusiasm for transportation, it's not only charming and endearing, but encouraged. And, even more interesting, is that his love of trucks has worn off on me. I find now that every time I see a truck, I not only point it out to my son, but I actually am excited about it! How did that happen? I don't really give a s@#* about trucks, but somehow they've become an important part of my life. Just another wonder of motherhood.