T to the 3

When I first got it into my head my nephew was in dire need of Thomas the Train gear, my sister told me, "Okay, but this is going to be between you and Mason."

At that time I thought, "Sure..whatever that means," and then plunked $70 down on what I imagined was a large and magnificent rail set (w/a couple figurines) and an engine or two.  My job was done.

Now that I'm older and wiser, I know what my sister was really saying at the time was, "There is no WAY I'm going to buy him those overpriced wooden toys, and if you want to get him hooked - you're going to have to support his habit."

Sigh.

The magnificent rail set I initially bought him looked like this:

Who would have thought a $13.00 engine would only be 3 inches long x 1 inch wide?  (That's what I get for shopping on the internet for basically everything)

It seemed so pathetic.

Imagining Mason pushing his single engine and car around a tiny circle of track all day long (he LOVED the thing) made me feel like a failure as an aunt.  I couldn't let it go on!

I started buying him more.  He wanted a bridge, I bought him two.  He wanted a specific engine, I went online and found it. 

Mason started to get one board.  Even though he's only 3 - Mason is a clever kid.  He's never overtly asks me for anything...he always just tells me how wonderful a certain engine/windmill/bridge - he doesn't have yet - is.  If he throws in a couple other descriptive words (cheeky, magnificent, red, etc) I'm a goner.

Today, during my lunch break, I bought him a Rosie.  Sigh.

The growing track a couple months ago