Laser Beams, Rockets, and Legs

April 17, 2009

I'm not sure where the fascination is stemming from, but lately James has been absolutely obsessed with Transformers. You know what they are--those palm-sized plastic cars that turn into nasty little robots who like to shoot innocent bystanders with laser beams? Yup, those are the ones.

For the past month, it honestly seems like every other word out of my kid's mouth has been 'robot' or 'jet' or 'if-you-love-me-at-all-you'll-buy-me-an-Optimus-Prime.' My head is spinning over here...what ever happened to his love for Lightning McQueen and sidewalk chalk? At this point I'd even take Caillou back with wide open arms--and if you're the parent of a toddler, you know just how serious that really is.

Anywho, as a result of last Saturday's birthday party James is now the proud owner of seven, yes seven, Transformer toys. They range from a yellow car named Bumblebee to an ambulance-robot to Optimus Prime himself. I'm quite sure that if it came down to it, we have more than enough characters to reenact the feature film from start to finish.

This morning when I got into my car, already running late, I was beyond frustrated to find a gas gauge needle that literally hung below the illuminated low fuel light. I guess that's what I get for letting Jared use the station wagon to transport three boys to a church youth-group service project. Never again Brother Lawson! Never again!

So on the way to school, James and I stopped at our neighborhood gas station. I unstrapped him from his car seat, and we walked toward the store so we could pre-pay for our fuel.

When I spotted the man chatting on the steps who was wearing shorts, I knew exactly what was about to happen. After all, he had one real leg and one titanium replacement--James was on the verge of a field day.

Unfortunately, James is a quick one. Before I even had the chance to grab him by the ear, my kid was standing inches away from this stranger, gazing at his titanium leg with pure admiration. "Mom," he screamed, turning toward me in excitement. "Dis man is a weel twansfowmah! You see his weg?! Do you see dis?!"

"I'm sorry," I said to the man, not knowing what might come out of my mouth next. "My son is really into robots and transformers, and I guess he thinks your leg is cool."

"Well," he replied, looking straight at James, "it's even cooler when the rockets are working, but you know, I can't turn them on with all these people around."

James nodded in solidarity--and that's when I finally had the chance to pull my child into the store by his big, floppy ear.

Thank goodness for strangers with a sense of humor...