Beep Beeps

My son Drew is obsessed with cars, vehicles, anything with wheels and in motion. I will find him in the morning, standing in his crib, looking out the window onto Florence Drive where cars are driving back and forth. "beep beep, beep beep" he affirms with his pointer finger aimed at the street.

The best way to get him ready to go anywhere is to tell him we are going in the beep beep. Driving through town, on busy streets, the chorus of "beep beep, beep beep" from the back seat as Drew delights in a simple ride with Dad to the hardware store.

And when I actually beep the horn in our car, he bursts out in laughter. He finds such joy in traffic, in carbon monoxide producing vehicles. Probably a future Repubilcan.

When I was a kid, my parents would pack me and my sisters in the car and drive to Tamarac, FL to visit our Grandparents. Tamarac was a city full of old folks communities. Not nursing homes, but two bedroom houses, all painted white with a community pool where 80 year old ladies screamed at you if you splashed, and the old men playing shuffle board scowled if you made too much noise playing the game.

On the way in the car, my father would honk the horn at random old people, people he didn't know, and for fun, he would put his head out the window like a dog and yell, "Hi A Lady!" as my sisters and I would wave at them with great passion. The old timers, confused of course, would wave back, not knowing who was honking, waving and yelling "Hi A lady!" I am sure that they didn't want to be rude, so they played along.

So now, I have taught this game to my daughters. They get mad at me when I don't honk at someone. Even when traffic is stopped, even at red lights. They don't really understand the true reason for the horn, they do think its funny to wave at people they don't know. Like they are getting away with something. I guess that's why I enjoyed the game as a youth. Getting away with something while my father cheered us on.

So while Drew certainly doesn't understand the game, he really enjoys all of the beep beeps.