Max's Early Education

I've been on a roll lately of posting nothing but bitchy, snarky and mildly (?) depressing notable recent moments of my life, and I think I need a turn-a-round, even if briefly, to remind myself that not all is crappy here in the Great Plains. However, let me give an early notice that this will not last as I have been trying to draft a post in memorium for Nov. 10...

Anyhoo...

Max turns 4 in December. He is brilliant. Yes, a future Rhodes scholar if there was one. Why? Well, because he's MY son of course. You need proof, you say? He's so smart that when I ask him if he wants to be a doctor when he grows up so he can help people who are sick and make them feel better, he quickly and confidently tells me that no, he is going to be a race car driver.

Harumph, you say? This is not a NASCAR-bred child, as that sort of drivel is not allowed in my home (not while I'm in the house, anyway!).

Cars are Max's life-blood. His first Hot Wheels Car was a police cruiser when he was just over a year old. Jerry and I would scramble when it drew close to ny-ny time to make sure that damn thing was in his crib. And, please no one comment about the small object issue. He is nearly 4 and I've never had to remove anything from any orifice besides boogers and the too-big-of-bite-of-hot-dog (knock-on-wood). Max would cuddle with that little car and every nite we would sneak back into his room and remove it from his little fist and put it on the floor next to the crib so it was one of the first things he saw in the a.m.

As he grew, so did his collection. He immediately knew the diff between Hot Wheels cars and other "substandard" knockoffs. Then came the model recognition, which did NOT originate from his father, but from me. Remember, I am a closet gear-head and no son (or daughter if I am to be so lucky) will ever not know their BMW from their Mercedes. So a little over a year ago, I showed him something on one of his cars. It was this:

Now I know that it may be pretty hard to tell what is going on with such a little picture, so let me help you out. On the hood of this particular car, right smack dab in the middle is a teeny-tiny rectangle. In the middle of this teeny-tiny rectangle is a silhouette of a rearing horse pawing in the air. I told Max that THIS is a Ferrari, and any of the cars he has in his collection that have this horse is a Ferrari.

Let me tell you folks, that he is an expert now on Ferraris...that is until he got this as a gift:

Yes, a John Deere tractor. Remember? I live in Nebraska.

Now as you can clearly see there is an animal on the front, in silhouette, much like the theory behind the Ferrari emblem. Max noticed. He came to me and asked why THIS Ferrari had so many tires. I found the this particularly funny and both Jerry and I love sharing the story with family and friends.

Max has also been schooled on the Dodge (a sheep's head); the Ford (a blue oval), which is not to be confused with the Culver's restaurant logo; and of course The Best Brand of Car on the Road - Bar None - The Toyota, of which we currently own three.

So as you can see, I can actually post about something besides IF Doom & Gloom. I AM very grateful that Max is in my life. We have realized with all the recent development of *Male Factor*, that he is nothing short of a miracle...but, you know what? We knew that the moment he was born.