Attention to Detail

The things that attract Atrain's attention astonish me. He showed his adept attention to detail at 9 months old when he would cry with distaste if I pulled my hair back in a pony tail. No joke. He's a little more lenient now a days when it comes to my hair-dos, but if he disapproves, he lets me know. "Let me take your elastic out for you, Mom," he says, then adds, "I'll go slow, I promise...I promise!" As I wince when he pulls, plucking hairs out of my pony tail.

Today he focused his attention on the wheels of a little Hot Wheels car we bought from the big grocery store. We were there to pick up a present for my Dad's birthday and Atrain wanted to get Grandpa a car. I'm pretty sure he had ulterior motives, because of course he needed one to match. So, we brought home two toy cars today: one for Atrain and one for Grandpa.

But as soon as his new car hit the speedway (aka our couch) there was an immediate problem. Atrain was wailing as he looked at the car and exclaimed, "It's broken! It's LOOSE! My car is broken!" I examined the vehicle, but could see no apparent problems. But Atrain was not satisfied. So, I sat patiently with him, trying to understand the source of his anguish. "It's LOOSE! See! Do you understand?" He continued to ask me. I was trying really hard to interpret Atrain, who was now flailing his body against the floor. I put the car on the cushion and rolled it to and fro (just like Atrain does), and I finally spotted the problem. The circular paint that encases the rim of the tire was slightly off. So, when the wheel turned it appeared to wobble. It looked loose.

"Wow!" I said, "this is a huge problem!" as I rolled it toward Atrain. "I can't believe the wheel is loose." And with that, Atrain immediately perked up. Bingo. We were speaking on the same wave length. All he wanted was to be understood. "I bet Grandpa will be able to fix it. Do you think we should trade him cars for now?" Atrain cheered right up as we traded toy cars with grandpa. Luckily, all four paint jobs were up to par with Atrain's high standards. If only all three year old obsessive crises were as easily averted.