Sebastian loves trains. I always thought the ‘boys and girls are just different’ line was total rubbish. I read Women’s Studies at uni. I know about gender roles and societal norms and parental expectations. I don’t buy gender-specific toys and I try to avoid reinforcing stereotypes. So when Sebastian woke up one morning about 6 months ago totally obsessed with trains, I was flabbergasted.
Nevertheless, here we are. Everything is about trains now. Everything. If you want to get him to co-operate? Ask him if he wants to be a “Really Useful Engine”. Need him to wear a bib to eat soup? Tell him Percy wears a bib. I bought a set of 60 Thomas & Friends books on eBay for a pound; they’re pretty much all that we read. The theme songs for Chuggington and the various Thomas DVDs are my permanent earworm. And every night he wants to take his trains to bed. Maybe Percy or Diesel 10. Maybe Emery. Or maybe Blue Emery (a random train toy he has given the real Emery’s name to). Or maybe Yellow Emery (a Playmobil 1-2-3 train he has given real Emery’s name to). It’s quite sweet, really, and obviously harmless. Except for the fact that he comes into the big bed most nights, and brings them, and they’re really remarkably sore to roll over onto…