Boys and Cars

That moment when your five year old son picks up the remote in the hotel room, turns on the TV, flips through the channels until he finds Fast & Loud on Discovery Channel, pumps his fist and says "Yes!" and posts up on the couch for the marathon. 

"Zack loves cars" became an understatement a long-long time ago. When he was three, he pointed to a wall-mounted black and white photo of muscle cars from the fifties. He said, "Look mom. That's a Mustang." By that time, due to his endless questions and our answers about cars on the road and his toy cars, he knew the symbols of all American-made and popular European and Asian car models, so I assumed there was a Ford symbol on the car. However, when I looked at the picturenthere was no Ford symbol. So I asked him how he knew those were Mustangs. He said, "Because they have three lights." True, the brake lights on the back of the cars were in three sections. I congratulated him on making a good observation, but didn't know enough about cars to know that he was actually right. Mustangs tri-section brake lights are a trademark feature of the car. I had googled it when I got home to learn as much. Then there's that one time my husband asked Zack what he wanted to get Jesus for Christmas. He didn't say my heart, which is what my husband wanted to hear. Instead Zack said, "A race car." Because, clearly, if Jesus could have the awesomest Christmas gift ever, he'd want a race car. There were so many ealy signs that Zack was more than just into cars. Like this unexpected moment in one of his youtube videos where I was attempting to demonstrate his awesome ealry ability to spell and he had an Aha Moment about a new word he could spell.

S0 yeah. Zack has loved cars his whole little life. Now, I think he is officially a bonafide car enthusiast. If five year olds had little business cards, Car Enthusiast would be his title.

We ran across Fast & Loud one Saturday while my husband was flipping channels and it was love at first new-paint-job reveal for Zack. Fast & Loud is a reality show that follows business partners as they hunt down classic and rare cars from around the country, refurbish them and sale them for profit. The only down side of my son watching this show which is not intended for five year olds is the language. Those Grease Monkey Garage guys do use some colorful language on that show, but they're not dropping ef bombs and the cross language is never used in a negative way directed toward an actual person. Rather, the language is used to make their passionate expressions more colorful. Could be worse. I like the educational aspect of the show as well as how the guys use the same network of tradesmen (and a woman) to referb their cars. It's cool to see those partnerships and how they are necessary for the Grease Monkeys to accomplish their business goals. Not unawesome examples for a young, creative kid to witness. That and the quality production of the show is why I allow him to watch it most weekends. 

Their garage is located in Dallas and we plan to look into a "field trip" up the highway if they are game. We take him to car shows--the industry one that comes to town every year and pop-up classic shows that we happen upon--all the time. Now it's time for us to follow him deeper into his passion.

It's his passion and his journey. We're  just here to facilitate his moves and witness it all with a smile. 

Does your child have a passion for something? How old were they when you realized it was more than just a hobby?

Comments

[Schanina]

Aww. My pa is a mechanic and has designed a custom impala and motorcycle. I loved watching the creative process. He bought saved for a brand new vw bettle at 16, we still have it. He collects car calendars and would take my sis and I to the Mac Tool truck as a kid. My first overnight bag was looked like a mac truck, vinyl wheels and all. kinda embarrssing for a girl then, but very memorable now. What a fun passion.

[Schanina]

...sorry for the typos. I am still a but sleepy.

[Schanina]

..a bit. Uggh, can I just start over and delete that. Xoxo