Vinny has always loved things that go round and round -- wheels, windmills, you name it. He was terrified of the clothes washer for a while, because it went "boom boom boom" when the load was unbalanced and the noise scared him, but he has since overcome his fear and added washers to the list of fascinating things that go round and round.
He is so interested in washers that he has lately spent the majority of his computer time watching washer repair videos, which he can now quote word-for-word. (If there's something wrong with your washer, ask him what to do before you call a repairperson!) He always wants to help load and run the clothes washer, which is great except that while he is also excited to operate the dryer, he's much less interested in folding and putting away the clothes.
He also wants to play clothes washer. How do you play clothes washer, you may be asking? Well, he turns around and around, saying "ratta ratta ratta" as if he is the agitator in the center of the basket of a top-loading washer.
Yesterday he declared that he wanted to buy a washing machine and install it in the bathroom so that he can play with it. If it weren't for the space problems, I would be happy to buy him a cheap used one to tinker with! Instead, Jeff promised him that if we ever needed to get a new washer, he could help pick it out.
Another obsession of his is fans. He has enjoyed watching videos of fans on YouTube for years and years. There are people who have fan collections and post videos of them. There are videos by kids and adults alike. Vinny was especially inspired by the children with fan collections and began a collection of his own. He spends the money he gets for good behavior on new fans. And once, when he did something we were especially proud of, Jeff took him to Kmart and let him pick any toy he wanted. What did he select? A box fan, one with two knobs!
They have show and tell at his school every Monday and Friday, and every time, he has brought a different fan to share. Some of the kids are not interested in his fans, but other ones have developed an interest in fans thanks to him. In fact, we went to one of his classmates' birthday party a few weeks ago and the birthday girl had told her mother that Vinny had too many fans and should giver her one of his fans for her birthday. We gave her a brand-new fan of her own and it was like the best gift ever.
For Vinny's birthday, Jeff found an antique desk fan on eBay. We know he will love it. If only there were a small washer that we could get him (beyond the small pink toy we bought to try to help him overcome his fear of washers).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That is a pretty awesome small-child obsession. Had I known about his washer obsession, I could have emailed him (well, you) when ours broke! (Instead I called my father. It was the something solenoid, and we replaced it.) And also, vintage fans are awfully neat!
He is seriously knowledgeable about washers. Truly amazing what they can learn with that extremely plastic brain of theirs.
That's cool that he is sharing his fan obsession and his fans with other kids. At least fans can be purchased. At a young age my daughter developed an obsession with sea otters.
Post a Comment