I Saw the Train!

Your child’s interests may grow and change, but even if they stay the same, that’s okay too.  Have you been to Disney World? How many pairs of grown adults do you see having a fun day out at the park? A ton! This tells you nothing about how successful they are in other areas of their lives, how intelligent they are or what other varied and sophisticated interests they may have…they just love Disney!

This is Mikey with trains. He has always and will always love trains.  For a glimpse into a day when he was tiny and spent the day at a Thomas experience with his big brother Will, click this link. Wasn’t Will just the cutest? He’s on the Thomas train, holding a Thomas book that makes noises…I’m sure our fellow passengers loved us…LOL.

Even now, at 19, Mikey loves to see the train. He puts on his ear defender headphones and we open the window as the train whizzes past in our tiny town. Since we’re not close to a metropolitan area, the train only comes every couple of hours or so. We have the app on our phones and we check what time it is coming and wait at the station.

We can drive along side it for a little bit and then pull up at a railroad crossing to wait for the big moment. We smile our biggest smiles, wave to the conductor and I sing out in my biggest, happiest voice, “WE SAW THE TRAIN!!!” and Mikey laughs at me as only a teenager with an embarrassing mom can.

We wait patiently for the gate to rise and I drive across the tracks as Mikey watches the train disappear into the distance.  I can see how this might not be everybody’s idea of a great time, but my job as Mikey’s mom is to help him seek out the things that bring him joy. So, we’re going to keep checking the schedule and seeing the train whenever Mikey asks. What’s a silly thing that makes your heart happy?