I’ll be honest. As we were planning our summer visit with family, I was a bit apprehensive about how David would fit in with his cousins. The last time he saw them he was completely fascinated, but he was just 11 months old. He’s older now, and my nieces and nephews are, too.
But they picked up right where they left off.
When we arrived, my sister’s four kids were having some down time watching Magic School Bus. David had never seen that show, but he sat and watched with them. From time to time, his eyes would dart from the screen to his cousin’s faces, cautiously examining them one by one.
After the episode ended, they were all chatting about it with my mom, and after a few minutes there was a pause in conversation. David took a deep and asked, “Do you know Wild Kratts?”
Wild Kratts was, at the time, David’s favorite show. But his cousins had never heard of it and, because I wasn’t there, they couldn’t understand what he was saying, so they guessed a few different things and then moved on. It was David’s way of breaking the ice and, more importantly, the beginning of an awesome visit. David was in love with his cousins, and they were wonderful with him.
They included him, showed him where to pick wild blackberries, helped him stay away from poison ivy, taught him to use the iPad.
At the end of our visit, even though they’d been playing for a whole week, David was still having trouble keeping his cousins names straight.
“Mommy? What’s that name? Is that John Amnos or Abram?”
“What’s that big boy? Big boy? Big Abram? Abram?”
Now, Magic School Bus is David’s all-time favorite show. He has no interest in Wild Kratts, Thomas, Dinosaur Train, or anything else. He loves Magic School Bus so much that he actually enjoys reading the books almost as much as he likes watching the show. Almost.
And Big Abram and John Amnos? Well they’ve grown to love Wild Kratts.
Love!