How Fast Does That Car Go, Daddy?
Last month my brother chronicled my nephew’s desire to know everything, calling him the smartest person he knows. My little guy likes to ask questions too. Lots of them. Unfortunately, they are almost always about cars (and Taylor Swift, but that’s another post).
The boy is obsessed with cars. He can’t read but he can look at the logo of just about any car on the road and tell you who the manufacturer is. Ford, Nissan, Chevy, Toyota. BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche. It is not uncommon for us to be cruising down the road and TheMonk is giving me a play-by-play of all the cars we pass. “Look, Daddy! There’s a BMW! It’s a convertible! Look, Daddy! That’s a Ford, just like your car!”
His obsession with cars took on a whole new level when, a few weeks ago, we attended the San Diego Auto Show. He got to see, up close and personal, every car he ever wanted to see (except Porsche and Nissan, they weren’t there). He even went to the show determined to answer this question: Which is faster, the BMW or the Porsche? And, considering Porsche wasn’t there and the BMW women thought he was the cutest thing since Bambi, we were persuaded that BMW is faster. (Porsche, prove ‘em wrong. I will gladly test drive one for TheMonk.)
I drive a Ford Edge so TheMonk was especially excited to see the Ford cars at the auto show. I even tweeted a photo of TheMonk and a Ford Fusion to Scott Monty, Social Media Guru for Ford, who responded that TheMonk has good taste. Which he does.
TheMonk’s fascination doesn’t end with just the type of car. A few months ago I was forced to sit down and explain the machinations of the internal combustion engine. This would be fine if I actually knew the machinations of the internal combustion engine. Let’s just say that I spent an evening looking for YouTube videos about engines so I could show TheMonk how the pistons work. I can now tell you how the spark plug, gasoline, fuel injectors and pistons make one hell of an explosion. And so can TheMonk.
And finally, like any hot blooded American boy, he is fascinated with cars that go fast. Every car has to be compared to other cars in relation to their speed. “Daddy, how fast does a Nissan go?” or “Daddy, how fast does your car go?” “Daddy, which is faster, a Porsche or Santa’s sleigh?”
And, unlike my very well-grounded nephew, he will gladly accept that the magic of Santa’s sleigh can kick Porsche’s butt. (Again, Porsche, prove me wrong. I will gladly test drive one. For several years. Call me.)
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Oh, the Monk sounds like a mini-J!
My nephew was literally two years old, doing the same thing on my front porch: “There’s a Ford, Mercury, Lexus, Caddy, etc.”
We had the newspaper out one fine summer day and he was telling us which words on the classified pages were car names. He couldn’t really read at the time, but he could pick out “FORD” and “BUICK” and “MERCEDES” from anywhere on the page. I guess he recognized the picture of the word like he recognized the logos!
And may I tell you, today, at age 19, cars are STILL.ALL.HE’S.INTERESTED.IN.
Cars and heavy metal music.
You have lots to look forward to!!!
Comment by Krys72599 — January 26, 2010 @ 5:26 am
That’s so cool! My nephew has been able to tell the difference between his great-grandparents navy blue Toyota Matrix and my navy blue Pontiac Vibe (same year) since he could talk. Cars and kids are amazing together!
Comment by RobMonroe — January 26, 2010 @ 5:43 am
That’s awesome. The little boy I nanny for is the same way with identifying cars.
Speaking of vehicles though, I’m helping with a San Diego fundraiser for pediatric cancer that lets kids touch, honk horns, get up close with vehicles they see around (fire engines, motorcycles, etc). Email me if you want the specifics, it might be a bit north for you, but TheMonk (and Swee’Pea) might really enjoy it.
Comment by bree — January 26, 2010 @ 1:28 pm
He sounds adorable. I wish my boys were still little. Instead, they are smelly teens and quite preoccupied with GIRLS instead of cars. That being said, my boss in college used to let me drive his Porsche around to do errands for the office … I’ve still not gotten over it. So much fun …….
Comment by Twenty Four At Heart — January 26, 2010 @ 7:36 pm
We have to get our boys together. The Wolvog spends hours on Cars.com and gets authentically excited about the Nissan Cube and the Kia Soul (he’s got to be the only one). This is a kid who started crying when I told him they weren’t going to be making Saturns anymore. The great thing about car-loving kids is that they’re easy to shop for — Hot Wheels, Matchbox (real cheap too!).
Comment by Not For Profit Dad — January 26, 2010 @ 8:19 pm
Doesn’t his godfather have a Porsche?
Comment by Grandmother — January 26, 2010 @ 11:19 pm
That is truly adorable. I love how boys become obsesses…. with cars, trains, planes, etc. It comes from the same place, the specific interest just depends on the kid. So adorable.
Comment by Kellee — January 27, 2010 @ 4:23 pm
I love the fact that he happily includes santa’s sleigh in his speed calculations! That is very sweet.
Comment by pixielation — January 28, 2010 @ 2:49 pm