Have Car, Will Travel

I remember when I was little, being attached to a yellow blanket that a friend of my parents had given me.  It was a patchwork blanket with the letters of the alphabet sewn on it.  I called it my ABC blanket.  I am not ashamed to admit that I slept with that thing (on and off) through college and I still have it.  It is extremely faded and very worn in some areas and not many of the letters are there anymore, but there is something about that blanket that gives me a very comfortable feeling.  My sister had a blanket too.  It was also yellow.  Unlike me, she carried her blanket everywhere.  It had holes in it and I believe my mom even had replacement blankets that she had to use if one got too torn up.  Big Brother never got attached to a blanket or stuffed animal the way we did.  I tried to put cute stuffed animals in his crib and brought them places with us but he never seemed interested.  Ok, so he's not going to be the kind of kid that is really attached to a specific thing...or so I thought...

Big Brother is obsessed with a Matchbox Lightening McQueen car.  If you look through our family photos, you can spot "McQueen" in virtually every one.  It's like playing "Where's Waldo" looking though our pictures, only Waldo is a small, red car.  I'm all for my son having a favorite toy but I can't help but wonder how far this obsession will go.

Big Brother has always been into cars.  He LOVES them.  He loves the Cars movies.  He loves pretty much anything with wheels.  The issue with his beloved McQueen is that he NEEDS it in his hand.  Now, he doesn't carry it around all day, everyday, but he does have to have it to leave the house.  His teachers at school will make him put it in his backpack as soon as he gets there in the morning but as soon as he sees me walk in to get him in the afternoon, he runs over and gets McQueen out of his backpack.  At home, he can be in his playroom, playing with any other toy, but if I tell him that it is time to come downstairs for dinner, he says, "I have to get McQueen!".  Same with going to the bathroom or to bed...going anywhere, really.

The obsession began when he was about a year and a half old.  I remember one weekend being at my in-laws lake house in Marble Falls, Texas, for Labor Day and getting ready to take a ride on the boat.  Of course, McQueen had to come too.  The ride was fun and Big Brother had a great time but as we were getting out of the boat, he dropped McQueen into the lake.  He was very upset.  The water was shallow by the boat dock so my husband and my father in law tried to find it but there was a lot of algae and dirt and they couldn't find it.  Needless to say, Big Brother was extremely upset.  My husband and I quickly drove 45 minutes to the nearest Wal-Mart and bought every Lightning McQueen they had!  We gave him one (we told him we found it in the water) and kept the rest tucked away for future emergencies!  Now I understand why my mom had replacement blankets for my sister!

I guess it's normal for kids to have a specific toy that they love but I hope we are able to "ween" him off of it before he goes to kindergarten!  Check out my pictures and see if you can spot McQueen!