James

In news that has rocked all of the preschool world, the Thomas the Tank Engine series has recalled a number of its trains due to the possibility of lead paint. A few of D's trains were included on the list, so we dutifully packed them up and sent them off; they will supposedly be replaced and sent back, lead-free, in six to eight weeks.

This sounds remarkably straightforward, but there is a story behind the story.

Last summer, when D was 2 1/2, he asked one day if he could have the engine James, one that he did not own. I don't know if a friend had it or if he saw it on a video, but my dismissive comment was, "Maybe for your birthday." I was pretty sure that would be the end; he had not yet reached the age of being terribly aware that there are always more and more toys to be acquired. However, for the next days, weeks, and months, he asked me, consistently and sweetly, "Momma, do you think I can get James for my birthday?" It was all I could do to not buy that child the $12 train. My desire for him to learn to wait and to experience the joy of delayed gratification won out...but I was dying with anticipation for his late fall birthday so he could finally have that train! Indeed, there was James among his small stack of gifts, and for the past months, he will occasionally reminisce about the moment he opened James at his "party." James quickly became one of the inner circle of 5 trains, privileged to sleep with my small son, always on the track or in the line-up, or wherever the locomotive action occurred.

And now James has been recalled for a new paint job. We told him James had to be sent off for an adventure to the sheds. D wants to know what color he'll be when he returns. It's been 2 days, and each day when the mail comes in, he asks if James came today. Tonight when he was overtired, he pinned his general frustrations and bad behavior on missing James. My heart breaks for him even in this loss, and though I don't ever want him to tie his life to material things, I understand that this object has a special place in his heart, and for pete's sake, he's only 3!

It will be a joyous day indeed when James returns from the sheds with his new red paint job.