Meet Old Blue!
It was July fourth on the farm my husband grew up. We love going home to create new memories with family. Pops makes the best barbecue in all of North Carolina. We were standing around the grill, smelling the amazing aroma of what was going to be one delicious meal when Pops said he had some boxes for us to take home. He then brought us into the building where we were going to have dinner. In the rafters, he had several boxes waiting for us. It was soon time to eat barbecue and visit with family. We threw the box in the back of the truck and didn’t open it until we were home.
My husband went through the box while we were unpacking and found a bunch of old toys from when he was a little boy. My mother-in-law kept everything from photo albums to report cards, shirts to blankets, and matchbox cars to ride on tractors. One can look at these boxes and only say to themselves that she was a great mama and loved her children deeply. After looking through all the items, there was one thing that stuck out to him. He immediately told me he was going to give it to our oldest son.
The next morning, he gave this toy to our son. His eyes just lit up. There was a smile on his face from ear to ear. It was an old, rusty blue tractor. He played and played with this thing all day long. Then the next day. Then the next day. Every day we went outside, he rode this little blue tractor around. Up dirt piles, through our freshly laid mulch, into water puddles, “mowed” the grass with it, and took it under the shade tree for a rest. It never left his side. This tractor was the reason my son became obsessed with tractors and still is to this day. It’s been 2 ½ years since my hubby gave him that tractor and the thing still gets driven all over our 2-acre property.
After about a year of playing with this little tractor, I told my husband that we needed a name for it. We all sat down and looked at it. We then came up with a name. His name was going was Old Blue! The name just stuck after that. We think it’s just the neatest thing that this old tractor that my husband played with while he was a child became one of our son’s favorite toys.
Being a homeschooling mom, I do everything I can to have books and learning activities available all the time for our children. Books are everywhere in our house. We go to the library multiple times throughout the week and pick out books together. I’m pretty sure we checked out every tractor book there is to be checked out. Since there was such a desire to read more tractor books, I decided to use his toy and create a book for them to read. That one book became six in my series. Not only that, but there will be more Old Blue Finds books in the months to come.
Their love for reading is so strong, which was my goal in starting all of this. Goal accomplished! I hope your child loves these books as much as mine do.
Let me know if your child has a favorite toy with a special meaning!
Xoxo,
Amanda