Lessons From Thomas the Tank Engine
For the last year and a half, my wife Carol and I have been raising our now-23-month-old grandson Quenton, for reasons I won't go into right now. Suffice it to say that you do what you have to do; I'm sure many of you can relate. In any case, these last 18 months or so have been quite an experience for us, considering that our youngest child is now 21 and our toddler-rearing days were two decades behind us. Not only that, for some reason keeping up with an active toddler seems to take a lot more energy now than it did then!
We've been very cautious about letting Quenton watch a lot of television or video to this point, but the two characters we do allow him to spend time with are Elmo Monster from Sesame Street and Thomas the Tank Engine. I know more about Elmo's World than I ever thought possible. If I've learned nothing else, I know that you should NEVER ask Mr. Noodle ANYTHING! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, just ask the mother of a toddler.)
Thomas the Tank Engine, for those of you who may not know, is a little train character created by the Rev. W.V. Awdry in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher. Thomas has appeared on television in the UK in "Thomas and Friends" and in the US in "Shining Time Station." And let me say, you have been culturally deprived unless you've reveled to these catchy lyrics and bouncy melody:
They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
Red and green and brown and blue
They're the really useful crew
All with different roles to play
Round Tidmouth sheds or far away,
Down the hills and round the bends
Thomas and friends
Thomas, he's the cheeky one
James is vain but lots of fun
Percy pulls the mail on time
Gordon thunders down the line
Emily really knows her stuff
Henry toots and huffs and puffs
Edward wants to help and share
Toby, well let's say, he's square
They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight...
Well, you get the picture.
There are a couple of virtues which play important roles in the stories about Thomas and his friends, namely reliability and usefulness. All the engines work very hard to be useful and reliable, and truth be told, occasionally they squabble (albeit mildly) amongst themselves about who's the MOST useful and reliable. But, as I'm sure you'll be relieved to know, by the end of each episode, everyone has learned a lesson and once again peace and harmony reign supreme on the little island of Sodor. (There were a couple of times when I was on the edge of my seat, though...)
So what important life lessons can be learned from Thomas and his friends? Well, there are lots worse things to aspire to in this world than reliability and usefulness, and learning to play well with others occasionally comes in handy as well. It's very rewarding to know that not only am I spending quality time with Quenton, I'm becoming a better person to boot!
They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight...