The Tractor

Graham has loved tractors ever since his Great Grandma and Grandpap Smith gave him a set for Christmas 2 years ago. He played with them inside, he rode the lawn mower, he pointed them out when they drove on the road, and he could barely contain himself when he actually got to sit on one. We finally decided to get him a toy ride-on tractor, but I refused to pay $300 for one. We got a very nice used one from Craigslist, bought a new rechargeable battery, and have basically stopped needing to entertain Graham outside.




The toy has its price, though. There's a reason they don't give 2-year olds a driver's license. Once Graham discovered that a second gear exists, he could now go 4.5 mph without watching where he was going. He has run into things at full speed more than once, prompting me to wonder if a seatbelt and mini airbag wouldn't be appropriate.

Unfortunately for Baby C, it's when Graham IS watching that he needs to be careful. Twice now I have seen Graham run him down like a helpless animal with amazing accuracy. Baby C, on the other hand, doesn't have long enough legs to drive the tractor. He prefers to ride side-saddle, standing on the pedal with both feet, cruising across the yard with a huge grin on his face, completely oblivious to the fact that he's heading straight for the garden fence. The steering wheel's function has not entered his realm of consciousness. It is so funny to see him gliding across the yard that we were laughing too hard to stand up straight.

The tractor has come in handy for yardwork--we have used it to dump about 8 wagon loads of apples into the garden. Graham also used it to chase geese in the backyard. He took off at 4.5 mph with those fluffy prizes in his sights. As he got closer, they split into two groups. He went after one group in hot pursuit, all the way up the neighbor's hill, where they finally tired of the pesky game and flew away. Graham sat there with arms outstretched, sobbing, "Hold geese! Hold geese!" I'm hoping this falls under the category of non-lethal hazing and we won't be hearing from the DNR.