boys and trucks
Miles's daycare provider gave him a truck for his birthday today. He was thrilled: "Big truck!" After i put him in his car seat, i opened the box and gave it to him. Driving home, i heard:
"Semitrailer!" (Me: "Yes, it's a semitrailer." I've learned about all kinds of trucks from his books.)
"kiss boo-boo" (I glance in back to see Miles holding the front end of the truck to the scrape on his knee)
"truck dancing"
oh, and i almost forgot: a few weeks ago we started telling Miles stories at bedtime, with his help. When I first started, it was like, "There once was a little boy (or girl) and his name was . . . ?" And Miles would say, "Miles!" Sometimes we'd have stories about animals. Usually I ask him what kind of story he wants and he'll say, "boy story" or something else. Lately, he's wanted stories about buses, cars, or trains. I let him fill in blanks, so i'll say, for example, "Miles's favorite thing to do was . . ." And he'll say, "Eat." Almost always, regardless of whether our protagonist is human, animal, or vehicle, it likes to eat pasta, go to the playground, go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, gets sleepy and goes home to mommy, and cries after its nap because it wants mommy or daddy to come in. Lately, trains have talked to scarecrows, and today, there was a green bus that kept falling in a hole. Also, yesterday, his toy trains were flying "like airplanes." it's terribly cute and fun to watch his imagination develop.
also fascinating to watch socialization at work for example, last year, mom saw Miles pushing a maglight around on the floor, and she said, he needs something with wheels to push around. which led to the purchase of his first vehicle. turns out he loves anything with wheels, and big_britches's parents have responded by buying him more and more vehicles, which he loves. At home, he has fewer vehicles and a greater variety of toys. He likes to play dress up and cooking (he learned these things at daycare). He likes to feed his baby doll and pretend to eat his toy food. He likes to color and paint and play with a box full of rice (like a sandbox but easier to clean). His favorite toys still seem to be vehicles and balls, but he has quite a range of interests, and he loves his mermaid and Dora books just as much as his truck and train books. many studies show that boys and girls enjoy toys associated with the "opposite sex", so it's not surprising to me that Miles's interest are so wide-ranging. it's weird to see how entrenched are the practices of interpellation. and it makes me really miss being around other queer parents. life with suburban straight mainstream folks is really profoundly strange.
"Semitrailer!" (Me: "Yes, it's a semitrailer." I've learned about all kinds of trucks from his books.)
"kiss boo-boo" (I glance in back to see Miles holding the front end of the truck to the scrape on his knee)
"truck dancing"
oh, and i almost forgot: a few weeks ago we started telling Miles stories at bedtime, with his help. When I first started, it was like, "There once was a little boy (or girl) and his name was . . . ?" And Miles would say, "Miles!" Sometimes we'd have stories about animals. Usually I ask him what kind of story he wants and he'll say, "boy story" or something else. Lately, he's wanted stories about buses, cars, or trains. I let him fill in blanks, so i'll say, for example, "Miles's favorite thing to do was . . ." And he'll say, "Eat." Almost always, regardless of whether our protagonist is human, animal, or vehicle, it likes to eat pasta, go to the playground, go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, gets sleepy and goes home to mommy, and cries after its nap because it wants mommy or daddy to come in. Lately, trains have talked to scarecrows, and today, there was a green bus that kept falling in a hole. Also, yesterday, his toy trains were flying "like airplanes." it's terribly cute and fun to watch his imagination develop.
also fascinating to watch socialization at work for example, last year, mom saw Miles pushing a maglight around on the floor, and she said, he needs something with wheels to push around. which led to the purchase of his first vehicle. turns out he loves anything with wheels, and big_britches's parents have responded by buying him more and more vehicles, which he loves. At home, he has fewer vehicles and a greater variety of toys. He likes to play dress up and cooking (he learned these things at daycare). He likes to feed his baby doll and pretend to eat his toy food. He likes to color and paint and play with a box full of rice (like a sandbox but easier to clean). His favorite toys still seem to be vehicles and balls, but he has quite a range of interests, and he loves his mermaid and Dora books just as much as his truck and train books. many studies show that boys and girls enjoy toys associated with the "opposite sex", so it's not surprising to me that Miles's interest are so wide-ranging. it's weird to see how entrenched are the practices of interpellation. and it makes me really miss being around other queer parents. life with suburban straight mainstream folks is really profoundly strange.