There is something good about cartoon movie sequels…… the old toys enjoy a revival!

My son absolutely adored the characters (and toys) from the Disney Pixar movie CARS when I first introduced the movie to him about 3 years ago. Needless to say, within a short time we built up a rather huge collection of the characters (above photo probably makes up only a quarter of that collection). He would play with the toys almost everyday.

Alas, and naturally as time passed, new toys and distractions in the form of Beyblades and iPad took over. These car toys were then stored …and forgotten…until the launch of CARS 2!

We then excitedly watched the trailers on Youtube and naturally again, the pleas to get the new characters began. In a few hours time, we will be heading to watch the GALA premiere in Singapore. I can imagine the pleas will become louder and louder after that!

In front of my son, I frowned upon such desires to get all these toys. But privately, I can’t wait to get my hands on the whole new collection!

Oh by the way, for those reading the previous post and wondering who “Mack” is….he is the big truck that “ferries” race cars in the DISNEY PIXAR movie “CARS”.

And I just found out that the name “Mack” came from “Mack Trucks”, one of the world’s leading truck manufacturing companies.

We celebrated our little son’s 3rd birthday last weekend.  He is a die-hard fan of the Walt Disney movie “Cars” so I got him Mack (the truck that carried Lightning McQueen, the protagonist in the movie).  Needless to say, that got my little son really happy and excited.

He hugged me and told me “Mama I love you because you bought me Mack”.

Which prompted me (and any parent I’m sure) to ask “Would you still love me if I didn’t buy you Mack?”.  “No” came the reply, without any hint of apology, simply as a matter of fact.

That got me really upset and I immediately launched into a lecture of how love ought not be tied to material things… how he should still love me even if I don’t buy him any toys… how love should be unconditional love…Well, that’s easier said than done.  I fumbled to find the right words, the right analogy to explain this as simply as I could.

In the end I got a blank look and a very disinterested 3-year old.  I simply gave up and told him I will talk to him again about this some other time. How do we explain unconditional love to a 3 year old?

Not so much my son though. For him, anything with four wheels is his "weakness". He absolutely ADORES cars. And needless to say, he LURRRRRRVES the DISNEY PIXAR MOVIE : CARS.

For his recent REWARD trip, I have actually set aside about $60~$80 for a toy of his choice..thinking that he would pick up a Playmobil Campervan which I have egging him on for days to like it.

When we got to the shop, before I could even interest him on the whole array of Playmobil on the shelf, he was already transfixed by a simple 6 inches long Fire Engine (for which its doors can’t even be opened!) placed along the path towards my beloved Playmobils.

No cajoling was possible to "lure" him away that Fire Truck. He doesn’t want to move on to the other shelfs and just simply wanted that !@#$% FIRE TRUCK!

I was caught off guard by his preference. My wife reminded me quietly that we wanted to get him a toy of his choice. So we eventually bought him that !@#$% FIRE TRUCK. Damn $10 Fire Truck.

He was overjoyed. I was devastated.

LESSON LEARNT
Isn’t this such a poignant lesson on the simple innocence of childhood…and for the matter, LIFE as well? The cost of a toy does not matter a single bit. What matters is does it bring JOY to the child. A cheap toy is no less worthy than an expensive one…. The SECRET lies in whether the child likes it.

PS: There is a little twist to this story. Will continue in another post