Help me deal with the constant vehicle fetish (4 yo)

[Nosy]

I would describe what I hear out of my 4 yo's mouth all day long as helicopter, limousine, airplane, car, truck, repeat. "When I grow up I'm going to have ______ (fill in the blank with vehicle of the moment)." "i only want things with wheels for my birthday." I think this is just a hard age because I remember complaining about having trouble identifying with my older son at this age (and he wasn't into vehicles). He wants me to validate his vehicle obsession, "did you love wheels when you were little?", and I'm doing a poor job. DH and I aren't into vehicles and chose our house based on not driving. Real vehicle collecting is not good for the environment. Do I dare dash his hopes and explain why I'm not into vehicles or just keep nodding my head as he goes on and on about them?

[ZoshaMosha]

Sure, you can let him know how you feel about vehicles without bursting his bubble. I think it's fair to let him know that "too many cars and airplanes aren't good for the planet." In fact, this could be a really good learning opportunity for him. Plus, you can start introducing him to alternative fuels and stuff. And since he's only playing make-believe, maybe you could help him put solar panels on his airplanes and firetrucks and add a high-speed rail to his train-set. Any chance he'll get super into bikes soon?

[4evermom]

He's four. Nod and smile and appreciate his enthusiasm.

You don't have to lie and tell him you love cars. Just appreciate that he does. It doesn't mean that he won't understand their environmental impact when he's older.

[lonegirl]

Originally Posted by 4evermom

He's four. Nod and smile and appreciate his enthusiasm.

You don't have to lie and tell him you love cars. Just appreciate that he does. It doesn't mean that he won't understand their environmental impact when he's older.

My brother was vehicle obsessed as a kid....My family owns a trucking company and I remember as a kid him knowing what type of transport was going along the highway by sound alone. When he was 11-14 he was in an adult RC car club and won lots of trophies at races. He now owns a beautiful 1972 Dodge MAverick that he races at provincial drag races. I understand your worry of the environment...but don't discourage his fun. Perhaps by the time he is driving we will have good electric or other energy efficient cars.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by lonegirl

My brother was vehicle obsessed as a kid....My family owns a trucking company and I remember as a kid him knowing what type of transport was going along the highway by sound alone. When he was 11-14 he was in an adult RC car club and won lots of trophies at races. He now owns a beautiful 1972 Dodge MAverick that he races at provincial drag races. I understand your worry of the environment...but don't discourage his fun. Perhaps by the time he is driving we will have good electric or other energy efficient cars.

And perhaps his fascination with vehicles will translate to studying and developing energy efficient transportation when he is an adult! After all, we'll always need transportation options.

I wouldn't discourage his interests. It sounds like you are modeling the kind of responsible use of transportation that you prefer. This, along with giving him information and letting him know about problems and concerns, means he'll likely develop similar conscientious use of vehicles. In the meantime, I'd let him have fun with his interest.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

bikes are cool too, and they have wheels, and they are good for your body, and they are good for the earth, and they are super cool, and you can put streamers on the handlebars, and you can go down a hill REALLY fast, and you can learn to ride without holding on,

HEY did you they have bikes with only ONE wheel, yeah they are called unicycles, and bikes with 3 wheels are called tricylces and bikes with 4 wheels are called quadracycles (actually surries I think)

OOOOOOOH and have heard about hot air balloons???? Like giant balloons filled with hot air with a basket on the bottom that you FLY in, wow how cool!

You know what else is cool? Public transportation.......blah blah blah
(i was trying out my four year old impression)


eta: now can someone help me with my fishing obsessed 2yo, (we're vegetarian!)

[MusicianDad]

I wouldn't worry about it. I used to be obsessed with anything vehicle related and not only do I not drive now, I don't even care that I don't drive.

tbone: Fishing doesn't have to include fish! Or at least not real ones, definitely not at age two. My brother and I used to pretend the couch was a boat and we go "fishing" in the living room.

[LynnS6]

Some kids go through obsessions. I'm not sure that you can really stop it. You can, however, use it as a starting off spot for more learning about other things.

Our ds is a kid with obsessions: It started with garbage trucks when he was 2. When he was 4, garbage trucks gave way to fire trucks. When he was 5, fire trucks gave way to buses. Buses lasted until 7 1/2.

I learned a lot about fire trucks and buses. We took bus trips to interesting places and through neighborhoods we'd never have visited if it hadn't been for his obsession. We toured fire stations. Then we came home and ds played fire fighter. And I got to tour 'his' fire station.So, I toured our own bedroom and had my child point out the neat 'features' of the 'firetruck' (your bed). We walked over to the local transit center 3 times a week (all I could stand) to watch the buses come and go. I swear ds learned to read by reading bus schedules and the signs on the front of buses.

You could use his interest in vehicles to talk about public transportation. What about fire trucks and ambulances? If he's interested in motors, you can talk about different kinds of motors and help him learn about different ways to power them.

I guess I see a lot of ways to direct this so that you're comfortable with what he's exploring.

You don't have to share his enthusiasm, just let him explore it. When he asks you if you liked vehicles, you can honestly say "No, I didn't like them that much, I really liked to play with ....." My kids love hearing about what I played with when I was little!

[hopefulfaith]

He's four. It's what they do.

Honestly, I'm not worried. My ds spends about 89.987% of the day pretending something related to vehicles, and one of his plans (he plans currently to engage in seven jobs, including firefighter/police officer/mountain climber...) is to invent a "car that helps keep the air clean". I have tried to be positive about his many obsessions, and I totally think you can direct his love into avenues you think are important without focusing on the negative aspects.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

tbone: Fishing doesn't have to include fish! Or at least not real ones, definitely not at age two. My brother and I used to pretend the couch was a boat and we go "fishing" in the living room.

OT: yeah mostly he doesn't catch fish....and when he does he throws them back, he's been into using tea bags to catch tea pots (all of these things are invisible except for the childsized broom with a rope tied onto it, oh I mean fishing pole). But 8 hours a day? C'mon how much cake can imaginary fish eat!?!?

So I get when its all day everyday it seems more "serious" or something, and you think about it more and the implications for the future, although it is more than highly likely to have little to no bearing on future interests

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by tbone_kneegrabber

But 8 hours a day? C'mon how much cake can imaginary fish eat!?!?

Ds used to empty 'garbage cans' 8 hours a day! There was apparently a lot of garbage around our house!

Maybe he can catch them, tag them for scientific study and throw them back.

[hopefulfaith]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

Maybe he can catch them, tag them for scientific study and throw them back.

[Autumn Breeze]

Hotwheels!

See, dh and I LOVE cars. Our son enjoys playing with them. We also collect some of our favorites.

I have 4 of the same car! Dh has at least 10 different Ferrari's. DS also has 3 large collectible Ferrari's that are chrome in his closet. I think they're 1:14.

And the little Hotwheels cars are cheap, less than $1 a piece. Maybe a few of those and some simple track could give him hours of entertainment in which you didn't have to play along?

[Nosy]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not looking to discourage something he's passionate about, just looking for how to connect with him when his passion is something I'm not into. I will confess it does make me happy to see some have grown out of it, I know that must make me sound awful.