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Tonka trucks and the great outdoors
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On any given morning or afternoon for that matter we have a house full. A house full of exceptionally "colorful" characters. Always someone to keep our son entertained, always someone to teach a lesson, and always someone to wear down the adults with the constant singing, laughing and high pitched voices. I guarantee our house is not the only microcosm of such toddler training but rather anyone that flings their proverbial living room doors open to the colorful and high pitched world of Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and a host of other faces and voices of Sesame Street. Oh wait did I mention, Thomas, Curious George, and the "family secret" Monster Trucks?" Oops sorry guys, didn't mean to leave you out.
In a household that always held firm that "our son would not sit glued in front of the TV", it does happen sorry to say. Sometimes it is the only way to get something done, get a phone call made or sadly get a temper tantrum large or small to stop. There are even times that adults sit in front of the shows just as focused on the TV as our son. Let's be honest, Thomas has a catchy tune. So on the heels of a family road trip and weekend away at a family ranch there was some fear that we would be faced with the daunting task to find some new entertainment for our son. Better yet, we could lug an entire entertainment system with us to include computer, Internet connections and an endless supply of dvd's for just any mood that strikes a two year old's fancy. As it turns out we did the latter, no sense in trying something new when you are away from home. Can I get an Amen?
The only variable in the puzzle, the one integral piece that wise old mommy did insist on packing was the larger than life Tonka dump truck. In a hope that it might actually get used for something other than toting stuffies around it got packed (begrudgingly by grandpa and daddy) underneath the other necessities. Upon arrival at the ranch through further opposition to anything non-electronic that surely was not going to hold our son's attention immediately the Tonka truck was put outside where it sat knowingly waiting for that two year old's glance at the expanse of Mother Natures's "gold", lot's and lot's of dirt! The five minute wait was worth the packing and opposition indeed because the minute our son looked out the back window and saw the truck in the dirt it was as if a boomerang swooped in and grabbed him by the waist, flinging him at lightning speed out the back door and right into the dirt. The host of rainbow colored characters left in his dust was quite a sight indeed.
For the next two days that Tonka truck got a beating in the dirt, over the rocks and down the very large hills at the back of the property, the last courtesy of mommy and daddy. The expanse of entertainment that spread before our son was breathtaking indeed. That good old fresh air and abundant dirt won out as it sometimes does, mostly in memory when we were kids with our parents words ringing in our ears, "go outside and play." Even a time or two a dirt clod went into our son's mouth just for good measure and curiosities sake but mostly it blissfully remained all over his face and on his clothes. The bathtub was the only thing that got more work over that weekend. 
As the saying goes, "You can't mess with Mother Nature." While necessity may be the mother of invention, invention sometimes has no bearing on the natural. Sometimes you just can't beat getting outside in the fresh air. Sometimes a kid doesn't want a video, computer or television and sometimes they do. Sometimes it may be at a kicking and screaming pace but sometimes (alot of times) a kid just needs to get outside and play in the dirt. When the manufactured noise is turned off and the natural stimuli is turned up a child and adult for that matter have the opportunity to see the world in a whole new light. Without trying, the birds, lizards, bugs and jack rabbits have the power to evoke a sense of greatness that a cartoon just can't. While the lessons of life as taught by Elmo and Big Bird to our children are important, the lessons taught by the great outdoors are likely lessons that will stick with them as they fall exhausted into bed that night and leap out the back door looking for more the next morning.
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