Day 1186 - Calling All Cars!

Do you know how much money the movie Cars has made off of merchandising? About $5 billion dollars. And do you know how much of that money came from us? $4.9 billion dollars.

Andrew loves his Cars. He lives and breathes Cars every day. When he eats, he pretends his food is a car. When he gets into bed, he asks for a Cars bedtime story. When he farts, he says, "My muffler backfired."

I will admit that it is fun to see him get excited about his toys. For Christmas, he received a bunch of Cars vehicles, and he was just as overjoyed from the first one he opened to the last. I wish I was just enthused as he was when I opened my first present of socks to the last one.

But his obsession of Cars also drives me a little loony. Each night, the kids get to pick a few YouTube videos before then go to sleep. Emma will pick a variety of things, but Andrew unwaveringly will pick a Cars video each time. And do you know how many videos come up when you do a search of "cars disney pixar"? Almost 5400. I still have a long way before we get there.

Recently, Andrew has made our oval coffee table into a racetrack. He takes his Lightning McQueen, Chick Hicks, and The King cars and recreates the opening race of the movie. The only comfort I get is that at least it's better to recreate the racing scene than the scene in The Lion King in which the dad gets killed by a jealous sibling (I'm watching you Auntie Anne (pretzel maven)!).

And what's even more unnerving for me is that a Cars sequel is going to be released this summer! But I'm sure I don't have to worry about buying new Cars toys for Andrew because we all know how terrible the Disney marketing and merchandising departments are. I mean it's not like Disney has their own stores or anything like that, right? Right?!?

But like all kids, you eventually outgrow your toys. And I guess that's the reason why we continue to allow Andrew to enjoy his current craze of Cars. There's something innocent and nostalgic about seeing your child be so passionate about a toy. Might as well let him be a kid and enjoy himself. But I'm warning him right now: when he gets his driver's license in thirteen years...ONLY ONE CAR!