Our son will turn 8 next month. He’s eight going on 80. I have never met a child so completely enthralled by the world of machinery and equipment.
He recently told my husband he’d like to celebrate his birthday at the local tractor dealership. We were puzzled. He loves this place so much. He literally thinks it’s like Chuck E. Cheese’s where you can rent out a room and party with the tractors, balers and equipment.
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you he’s obsessed. I recently changed his John Deere Tractor sheets and found several toy tractors and trucks under his covers. At least three days a week, he wears a shirt depicting tractors or heavy equipment to school.
For trick-or-treating, he announced he was going to dress up as a farmer. We thought that was great. Then he told us he really needed a tractor to ride for his costume. We laughed it off at first.
Our young son relentlessly persuaded his grandfather to give him an old lawn tractor he no longer used. Mind you, my parents live three hours away. Once Papa agreed he could have the old lawn tractor, we had to figure out a way to pick it up.
Our little farmer wore his father down and finally convinced him to meet up with my parents in Springfield, Mo., during the annual Farm Fest at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds. It was a win-win situation. There was new equipment to see and he came home with his very own lawn TRACTOR.
Recently, our neighbor’s son came over to spend the night. This wasn’t a typical “bring your overnight bag and pillow” sleepover. My son and husband hooked onto a trailer to go pick up his friend. A sleepover at the farm wouldn’t be complete without bringing his friend’s old lawn tractor over too.
We laughed until our sides hurt watching these two little boys race around the farm on lawnmowers. They hooked up to a little trailer and hauled wood for hours. They had no clue they were doing work, just boys playing pretend.
Finally, Halloween arrived. Our young son was beside himself with excitement. Since we live in the country, my husband hauled his tractor mower and lawn trailer to town for festivities in some friends’ neighborhood. I picked up the kids from school and we headed to our friends’ home. He was elated to be able to dress up in his favorite John Deere gear. His siblings were excited about going door-to-door collecting candy. He patiently allowed his older sister to draw a manly farmer beard on his face. They all looked happy in their costumes.
Soon, it was time for the neighborhood Halloween parade. Our son decorated his tractor and trailer and his three siblings hopped inside his little lawn trailer.
He beamed as he drove up and down the streets of a Fayetteville, Ark., subdivision in his bib overalls. In his mind, he was the king of machines. We laughed as people cracked up at our small boy looking so big on his tractor. We did our best to keep up with him as he drove along the route. It was a great night for all of us.
Our son’s perseverance in being the best farmer costume in town definitely paid off in fun. Hope you find something to make you giggle this fall too, neighbor.
