Big Wheels Keep on Turning

Two weeks ago, Brody turned 3. My baby is officially a little boy. He entered his second year with only a handful of words and chose mostly to communicate with grunts and hand jesters. Today, it seems that the only time Brody isn't talking is when he is sleeping. And additionally, one topic seems to dominate our conversations... John Deere tractors.

You may remember that when Molly was 3, she too became fixated on a single topic - the ever popular Sleeping Beauty. If you didn't know Molly then or have forgotten, click here. Anywho, it seems that genetically my children are predisposed to perseverate on one thing until their mother wants to check herself in to a padded cell.

Brody's birthday party was a John Deere tractor party, at his request. He talked about it for months beforehand and was concerned last weekend when poor Daddy did not have a single tractor at his party with which to celebrate. He received a motorized tractor from Dad and wore his JD shirt and hat all day. This birthday only added to his already enormous collection of little handheld tractors that he is constantly zooming around our house and discussing ad infinitum.

One might ask how an obsession such as this begins. I believe Brody's tractor obsession started innocently enough with the discovery that his grandpa owns both a small riding tractor and a large farming tractor. Both he and Grandpa got such a kick out of riding them together the first time, that it became tradition that the first thing to do every visit was ride the tractors. On one such visit, Grandpa presented him with a John Deere hat, and once Brody realized that his beloved tractor had merchandising rights, the rest had been history. Now everyone in the family buys him John Deere "stuff" and thus his accumulation has grown.

Additionally, we can not drive anywhere without constantly searching for tractors and I'm here to tell you they are all over the place. Construction zones, on the side of the road, home improvement stores, everywhere. A typical trip to drop Molly off to school goes something like this:

Brody: Mommy! There the tractor at!

Mommy: I see the tractor.

Brody: Mommy! Mommy! There another one! Mommy! MOMMY!! THERE ANOTHER ONE!

Mommy: Yes Brody, for the love of God, I saw it!

(repeat 53 times)

None of this would be too much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that Brody also feels like he needs to discuss John Deere tractors. At length. With everyone. The cashier at the Target checkout, Molly's teacher, the neighbor, my dermatologist, our priest at church. The list goes on and on. Most people just nod and smile as I roll my eyes and try to move him along.

I grew up in a town were a big traffic jam was 5 cars stuck being a tractor on the road. There were lots of farms and lots of farmer's kids. In high school, you could choose to be a member of the yearbook committee and the FFA (Future Farmers of America). I felt sure that I would eventually move myself out of that one traffic light town into the city and that my children would be cultured, sophisticated big city kids. Apparently not.

It's okay though. I can still hold onto the dream that one day Brody will become a hot shot surgeon. But if he ends up a dairy farmer backing up traffic with his John Deere tractor, I'll be just as proud.