Expensive Toys!!

What are Henry's most expensive toys? We have bought or had bought for us, all kinds of expensive toys like his playhouse and his swing set, however, I am writing this blog from one of Henry's 2 favorite things to play with. I am sitting comfortably, reclined back in the passenger seat of my Hyundai (pronounced like it rhymes with Sunday, as we were reminded in a Superbowl commercial this year) Elantra, while Henry is playing with the steering wheel, messing around with the emergency lights and resetting the preset channels on my radio.

Henry, at 23 months old, enjoys playing in either of our 2 cars almost more than anything in the world. At the moment he loves the Hyundai, but he goes through stages where my wife's minivan is his favorite.

On a side note, the minivan used to be my old Dodge Ram Pickup (I loved that vehicle), however, when I had kids I traded in my pickup, my testicles and a bunch of money for a minivan. Now I admit, the van is a great vehicle, and very child friendly, and the DVD player has saved us on many long car rides, but I just don't feel as cool driving around in a "pick the kids up from soccer" vehicle, as I did in my regular cab pickup.

Anyway, the thing that amazes me is that Henry's playing in the car has really developed. A month ago, he just loved pressing buttons and watching things flash, windows go down and hear the occasional horn honk.

Now, Henry tries to drive the car. He only really plays in the drivers seat, and spends most of the time turning the wheel, indicating, and switching on the lights. Of course, he still loves to honk the horn, but I am 29 years old, and also still love to honk the horn, something no man grows out of (women, however pretend to grow out of it). The development of children is astonishing. Henry is growing up very quickly, and his playing is definitely becoming more sophisticated.

As a Dad, I often wonder if it is healthy to let him play in a car, especially since, as a claims adjuster that sees people hurt in car accidents every day, I have seen the occasional accident when a kid has been left on his own in the vehicle, and has set it into reverse either hitting a tree or another car.

Sitting here in the passenger seat, however, I am able to reach over at any point and grab the wheel or brake, and have my had easily within reach of the gear stick just in case something happens.

Tonight, I ended up bribing.... umm I mean, "rewarding" my son for his great behavior by telling him we can play in the car if he takes his medicine, and puts on pajamas. He was perfectly behaved throughout giving him his medicine and putting on his pajamas, then immediately kept saying, "black car," and "dads car," so at 8pm, here we are.

I am not really sure that there is a point to this story other than the one any parent already knows. If you buy a young child a toy, he is as likely to play with the packaging as he is the toy!