Confession time.
My little boy is a TOTAL petrol head.
He is obsessed with anything that moves which possesses an engine; buses, trains, cars, motorbikes, rockets, aeroplanes, vans and trucks. If it makes a noise and it whizzes by at speed then you can guarantee he’ll love it.
I’m not exactly sure where this fascination stems from. Like many of you reading this blog, we were keen from the start to give Hector a variety of different toys to play with. I didn’t want to compartmentalise him by only providing him with ‘boys’ toys’ with which to ‘make believe’. So with this in mind we made sure his toy cupboard included a range of different toys including cuddlies and dolls, books and puzzles, colouring pads and supersized crayons, paints and stickers. He has ride-on wooden toys and a couple of ‘dolls’ houses’ including a Sylvanian Families’ house and a Playmobile farm, basketfuls of traditional toys and a wooden train set. He even has his own housekeeping collection which makes his Gramme very proud…
I could go on (Hector is so very very spoilt!) but whilst he plays with all of them beautifully, it is his hot wheels cars and GLTC wooden garage that puts a sparkle in his eye like nothing else. I’d say he plays with these approximately 80% of the time which is A LOT and it doesn’t look to be a phase either. Twelve months on and his motoring adulation game is strong!
I suppose I should have spotted it early on. Only last week I came across some old videos of Hector aged about nine months where he was obviously fascinated by some of the animals from VTech’s animal safari. Constantly wheeling them back and forth, working out how the noises turned on and off and making ‘car noises’. Equally, on the odd occasion where he was inconsolable for one reason or another, all I would need to do is to take him outside to the nearest road to watch passing vehicles and instantly he’d be soothed; this still works even at two years old. Hell even one of this first words was ‘car’ and despite the fact he still won’t say mummy (both Ste and I are ‘daddy’), he’s got the pronunciation of ‘Taxi’ and the sound of a car changing gears, down to a fine art.
‘Hector and his cars’ has become a bit of a family catchphrase and we never go anywhere without a Cath Kidston mini rucksack filled to the brim with Hot Wheels which is guaranteed to bring a smile to even the stormiest of faces.
I am so utterly bewildered.
In some ways I admire his devoutness to this need for speed, to such a niche category of toys. I mean that’s commitment right there at such a young age. Ste jokes that Hector is going to cost both his granddads a fortune in associated go-karting costs but I admit this is all so utterly alien to me.
Allow me to explain…I am one of three girls, all of whom could be described as girly girls although we’re all happy to turn our hand to a bit of hard graft (and in my case digging, chopping and sledgehammering) whenever it’s required. My wider family is composed of mainly women and my core group of friends from the all girls school I attended are…yep you guessed it, females. Yes there are men in my life but I’m a gal’s gal through and through. Even my work colleagues with the exception of a token male (hi Adam) are lasses.
This isn’t intended to be a post about gender stereotypes, instead this is just my ramblings about my worldly experience thus far, about my points of reference. Hands up, I have no experience really of boys below the age of fifteen save intermittent interactions with the two male cousins in my family, friends’ brothers and some hazy memories of a wee lad called James who was my best friend up to the age of five. I have no real idea what makes younger boys tick, what interests them (save those stereotypes), how they behave at different ages, or what’s ‘normal’ at each milestone.
Funny then I ended up marrying a boy who is one of four brothers, who at one stage was a semi-professional motocrosser and whose career centres around construction. Talk about Ying and Yang.
I regularly ask Ste if he was as infatuated with cars, planes and automobiles as Hector is at his age to which he scratches his head and responds with mild confusion that he really wasn’t. He too is a bit bamboozled by this dedication to all things motoring.
So I guess this is where I ask you for your experiences with those of you who have boys. Do any of your littles have a passion for one thing in particular be it cars or otherwise? Do you encourage it? Or assume it will simply be a phase and disappear one day as quickly as it came? Is it a boy thing to choose planes, trains and automobiles above anything else or is it simply a quirk limited to the few? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments box below…
As you know Lolly my two girls are the polar opposite to Hector. All pink and glittery and girly. However my brother was exactly the same as Hector. Having three older sisters he was subjected to all manner of barbies, sylvanians and dolls as well as being dressed up in tutus and A LOT of pink. He also randomly had very similar hair to Hector. Not curly but most definitely long until he had the standard 90’s bowl cut. Anyway, despite all this the only thing Daniel would play with was anything that banged, crashed or brummed. He could find a spoon and a saucepan a source of amusements for hours and his hard hat and tool kit were his absolute favourite. As was a toffee hammer my grandad gave him and with which he destroyed pretty much every wall in the house. As a grown up he hasn’t entered the construction industry like Ste but is instead in finance and as far as I’m aware is not a petrol head. Yes he likes cars but not to the point of obsession. So I guess I’m trying to say it will probably change at some point so just let him enjoy what he loves for now. Happy Hector equals happy mummy anyway xxx
Ahhhh Lottie – I’m now having visions of your poor younger brother being spun around in a tutu by his three older sisters clutching his toffee hammer in vain. Hilarious! But you’re right though…happy Hector does mean happy mummy so it looks as if I’ll be lugging those Hot Wheels around for a while yet xx
I kid you not Lolly we have a photo of him in a pink leotard, tutu and leg warmers with his hard hat sat by his feet! Poor boy. x
My my 22 month old it’s buses, we play a game each morning on the drive to nursery where i say how many buses will we see today? And he shouts a number. When we see a bus he shouts BUS! And I ask him what colour it is. One of his Christmas presents is bernies number bus from gltc, and I have a feeling it will be his favourite! He does also love colouring and crafty things. He also has a Simba lion teddy that a friend bought him earlier this year and he looks after him like its a doll (no idea why he got so attached he’s never even seen lion king), giving him shares of his food, dummy drinks, wiping his bottom and paws when it’s nappy change time, putting him to bed giving him cuddles and kisses and even brushing his hair on occasion! I guess kids just like what they like!
Oh these kids are funny aren’t they. Hector finds it hilarious when we pretend to put a nappy on his favourite cuddly toy. We get a belly laugh and everything and yesterday I caught him trying to feed the same toy milk. I like the fact that they are so caring though. It’s sweet xx
Its very sweet, we had an open day at nursery and they said that he ‘looks after’ the little babies, alerting staff when they are crying and patting them on the back to comfort them. How my heart didn’t burst I don’t know.
What a sweetie!!! The perfect big brother for number two 😉
Hi Lolly, my boy has just turned two, and he loves vehicles! he also carries around a rucksack or little bag of some sort filled with cars/trains/trucks/diggers etc etc. His love of trains I find strange as he’s only been on them a few times, but his wooden train set is his favourite. We also took him to the railway museum recently and he was in his element. We have also tried to provide a good selection of toys, he has a wooden kitchen, a pink dolls pushchair (which he puts his cars in!) and various other non-gender specific stuff, but he is never really far away from some sort of car/train! 🙂
Sounds like our boys are the same then Kate. I’m tempted to take Hector on the Santa Special train on the Severn Valley Railway but I think he’s just that little bit too small still. Perhaps next year…
OOh, we’ve also just got him a scooter, he loves it, as it provides him with his own wheels to whizz around on – definitely recommend one for a child that loves moving things!
My four year old is a total boy. All that gets played with in our house are cars, lego and superheroes.When I had my second boy last year I decided I just needed to embrace it and started to learn the superheroes names and who was a goodie and a baddie! The youngest has just turned one and is showing signs of being exactly the same.
Both have always loved books though and the biggest is a big fan of drawing (although to be fair it’s mainly pictures of the avengers!).
I love that you’ve full on embraced the superhero action Sarah; I can’t imagine that it’s that fair away for me either really. Hector is a huge fan of books too – we read regularly and our evenings are actually the one part of the day where we’re car free and the reading takes over. My favourite part if I’m being honest 😉
I have quite a girly girl so can relate on the opposite side of the spectrum. I was very conscious about gender stereotyping and perhaps really overthinking it at times. Anna has a good selection of toys which does include cars and her particular favourite – trains but on balance we mostly end up playing shops, dolls or picnics (or running – anyone else with a toddler that just wants to run around the house without any purpose?). I used to get a bit annoyed by other people giving her what you could deem just girls toys but it turns out she really likes pink and all that sort of stuff so I’m now a lot more relaxed about it. I will still make sure she gets plenty of choice bud don’t think it’s a phase that will pass anytime soon either.
Kat I honestly think it’s more than ok to have girly toys. I adored care bears, dolls, Sylvanian Families, barbies, fashion wheel, dream phone – the list goes on. And yes whilst I’m a girl’s girl I think nothing of pulling on my wellies to go traipsing through mud or digging vegetable beds for hours at a time. I’d go with what Anna likes (I’d love to play picnics or shops!) and make the most of it. She may surprise you when she’s older xxx
Most of the boys at my daughter’s nursery love cars! One in particular always always has some kind of vehicle in each hand.
My daughter is the opposite – despite trying with less stereotypical toys she is all about pink and dolls (which was handy when trying to prepare her for her baby sister). Like the poster above I do worry that people will think I’ve forced her into a girly pink stereotype, but it is very much her choice! I also then realise that people are far more likely to judge me for the fact that she won’t wear a coat or jumper no matter how cold, won’t have her hair brushed so looks like a neglected urchin, tends to lick shop windows… (the list goes on. I’m learning to not give a toss what anyone thinks)
Pips – are you sure that they don’t go to the same nursery. 😉 Usually Hector has a car in each hand too!
As I said to Kat I think it’s perfectly ok to be a total girly girl – you have to go with what the child likes and celebrate those differences… because boys and girls ARE different and that’s not a bad thing at all.
Hector has a penchant for licking windows too or trying to stick his face next to that of whichever dog he’s spotted so they can lick his nose. I despair!
Glad it’s not just mine with an, um, interesting approach to hygiene!
Having children makes you realise that they are individuals with their own likes and dislikes right from the start and that maybe there is a reason some stereotypes exist. I still won’t stand for any comments like “girls can’t do this”/”boys can’t do that”, though!
The neglected urchin look made me laugh so much – often being sported over here too. You’d think our otherwise quite typical girls would be far more in favour of hair brushes and clips.
I know! All other accessories (shoes, hats, [my] jewellery), oh yes, but hair clips/hair bands etc? No chance. So envious parents whose little girls have immaculate bunches or plaits.
Pips, Molly is obsessed with pink and it’s completely her choice. I’m like you and don’t care any longer. She can be a girly girl if she wants xx
Lauren this could completely discribe my little boy, we’ve just had a three week holiday and the highlight was ‘grandads van’ ?
His little sister his equally bissotted with cars but I think that may be because at 18months she loves everything her brother does. In his group of three year old friends it is half half boys and girls and they have all played with one another from day one but there is still a gender divide when it comes to paying with the cars, the girls will push them around for a few mins and then go on to something more interesting leaving the boys engrosed! They are funny aren’t they xx
This is 100% my little boy. He’s 14 months old and obsessed. He has big cars that he walks around with, small cars he pushes up and down, trains, lego cars, books about cars and diggers… need I go on. My husband and I were saying this morning that we can’t believe he has gone for something so stereotypically ‘boy’ and how funny it is that it naturally appeared. His nursery have even commented on how he won’t go anywhere without a car in his hands! Boys will be boys..?! X
I have a little girl myself but also have 6 nephews, 4 of whom are my older sister’s, 2 of whom are twins. I was amazed when I had a girl! Anyway, I can confidently say that they all had at least one obsession when they were little and usually went in this order: trains, cars, dinosaurs, space, superheroes then eventually sports. The twins were always very interesting though; identical in appearance but polar opposites in taste, one obsessed with the ‘typical’ boy things but the other preferred drawing, dolls, cooking and eventually got into dancing and gymnastics. You could literally see the left/right brain split between them! The youngest of my sister’s boys is now 9 and the oldest 17, so I have seen that they do eventually grow out of the obsessive phase but I think the interest remains. Funnily enough though, my little girl (19 months) seems to be following the same pattern. I wouldn’t say she’s obsessed but she can certainly say the words and is interested in dinosaurs, cars, tractors and helicopters. We think she’s destined for a job at Jurassic Park.