UBC Motherhood - Early Interests

I was talking about activities we did like attending music class and playgroup. Early on, however, my little boy had developed the "usual" interests:

He was obsessed with Disney Cars. He watched the movie over and over, and with time he got these character cars for his birthday and Christmas. He grew quite the collection. This is him, in the early stages, and his cars, watching the Cars movie - in a drive-in cinema, if you will. It was the cutest thing.

Don't get me started on the spin-off, Disney Planes!!

He liked trains, too. He watched Thomas the Tank Engine, and in doing so, Colin acquired a British accent ;-)

For a while I had to take him to the train station every chance we got. He was especially interested in the non-Swiss trains, so this Mom researched timetables in order to find out when the TGV (Train à grande Vitesse = very fast train by SNCF = Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français = French train company) and the ICE (Intercity Express) by the Deutsche Bahn, German train company pass by our suburban station. 

One day I was feeling extra generous, and we took the train to Zurich main station, from where trains depart to Italy and Austria as well. 

When we took him to California for the first time (so much for our Goodbye Tour in 2008 when we figured a road trip and a young child don't match!) he got to see so many cool things like this old steam engine and of course the San Francisco cable car.

Many times on our way home from the airport we would take detours to avoid rush hour traffic on the freeway. These "backroads" were also used by trams, streetcars. He liked these, too! So guess who purchased day passes and rode the Zurich trams every once in a while! It didn't take long and the little guy recognized the different lines, and he knew which tram was going to the hockey arena. More about hockey later.

A few months later we spent a couple of days in London, England, and of course he loved the Underground and the double-decker busses.

I mentioned I worked at the airport. Colin attended daycare at the airport, too, so he was constantly exposed to take offs and landings. 

In summer of 2010 the soccer world championship took place in South Africa, which is far away but still in our time zone, meaning the little guy was able to watch many games. He was hooked. Not only by the sport itself but the entire international setting; the flags, the jerseys and the national anthems. Without us noticing, he memorized them all!

A few months later hubby installed an app that allowed you to play every national anthem on the planet. Colin, then two years and two months old, surprised us by recognizing many of them. We speak Swiss German, and Colin talks with his mouth full, but you will notice that he usually calls out a country after a few seconds, and it was correct in the vast majority of cases:

France 🇫🇷 

Italy 🇮🇹 

Israel 🇮🇱 

Great Britain 🇬🇧 

Switzerland 🇨🇭 

Turkey 🇹🇷 

Russia 🇷🇺 

Spain 🇪🇸 

Brazil 🇧🇷 

Argentina 🇦🇷 

Canada 🇨🇦 

USA 🇺🇸 

Japan 🇯🇵 

Australia 🇦🇺 

Germany 🇩🇪 

Greece 🇬🇷 

Netherlands 🇳🇱 

Sweden 🇸🇪 

Portugal 🇵🇹

Summer was over, and the hockey season started. Hubby and I occasionally watched a game. Little Colin showed great interest in it, too!

I took him to the closest ice rink. We wanted to rent skates and dare first steps on the ice. However, a youth team occupied the arena; it was their training camp. Coincidence had it that my Mom, who accompanied us, recognized one of the Hockey Moms in the audience. Her daughter was one of the players, and she was kind enough to show Colin some moves. 

A few days later, her Mom rang our bell at home. 

"Here's some equipment my kids grew out of. Maybe Colin will enjoy it?"

Did he enjoy it? You bet!!! He wanted to wear the stuff for bed!

It didn't take long and our little guy started Hockey School. Where has time gone, today he plays for the U15 team.

What were your kids' early interests?