All Aboard!
How a Day Out With Thomas helped me understand my son's obsession.
by Katherine Ozment
June 28, 2007
As we rode, lush, green branches arched overhead to form a leafy tunnel, and ferns crept from amid the rocks on either side of the tracks. William, sitting between me and Michael, rested his hand on my leg as he looked out the window. He was uncharacteristically quiet.
After circling the fairground, we ate hot dogs, admired the giant Lego Thomas, shook hands with Sir Topham Hatt and bought a bag full of new trains and T-shirts. Before leaving, William clambered atop the front of a big, black locomotive and held up his hand in a proud, strong wave that reminded me of old photographs of people on the decks of ocean liners, about to set sail on their first great voyage. Driving home, he fell asleep in his car seat, and I turned to see him, utterly spent by the excitement of the day, a look of peace on his face.
Over the next few months, William started to let go of his Thomas fixation, and I stopped worrying so much. Maybe seeing the real thing was just what we'd all needed.
Now he couldn't care less about trains, while the sight of his unused ThomasNow he couldn't care less about trains, while the sight of his unused Thomas table sometimes makes me wish he did. table, which stands like a museum relic in one corner of our playroom, sometimes makes me wish he did. His passions have turned to other things — basketball, worms, beehives. I'm starting to see why parents of teenagers keep saying kids grow up fast.
Which is why my heart lifted the other day when Jessie, our fifteen-month-old daughter, toddled over to the Thomas table, plucked a long, blue engine from the rubble and began moving it back and forth along a broken bit of track. I crouched next to her, started snapping tracks together and, as the hour unfolded, told her everything I knew.
"That's Gordon," I said. "He's the strongest and fastest engine. That's Percy. He's small but very helpful. And this is Henry. I always had a soft spot for Henry . . ."
©2007 Katherine Ozment and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Katherine Ozment is a freelance writer working on a collection of essays about motherhood. Her work has been published in The New York Times, National Geographic and Salon. |
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