The Power of Thomas

All Hail the great and powerful Thomas. He is a peacemaker and deal breaker. He is the carrot on a stick for ANYTHING. Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas is great. Thomas the Tank Engine. I sucessfully avoided the Elmo Idolotry and most other branding idolotry. I totally failed at keeping my child from the opiate of Thomas. He WORSHIPS the trains. The only hope I have is that ALL trains keep his attention and worship. Thomas more than the others BUT he still loves all trains. Wylie received his first Thomas and Friends train in June from the Denver Train Museum. It was Spencer and his tender. Wylie loved it, played with it and brought it most everywhere. He liked trains and we knew that going to the Travel Town Train Museum in Griffith Park was an easy win with him. He loved the model trains but for the most part it was trains not Thomas. Wylie received three more Thomas and Friends trains from his Aunt Lulu for his birthday and christmas. He received a Thomas Birthday Train and Car and a Christmas Caboose. He also received a video. This is where the obsession and idolotry started. If the video were on all was good. If not INSTANT TEARS. Instant. Very disturbing. So I limited and was clear about the attachment not being the greatest. Wyatt set up his model trains for Wylie to play with the first week of January. We had to make TWO trips to the train store for accessories for the model trains. Great excitement at the sight of the model train set up, great excitement at the sight of the Thomas and Friends train set. MAJOR TEARS AND SADNESS at the leaving of the store. Almost unconsolable. We then visited friends the past week who had a train set up in their living room. Wylie didn't eat, didn't care about anything but the trains. He eventually moved on to another toy, but for the most part he was eyeing the trains. Wyatt's parents bought him more Thomas and Friends trains and books while we were back east. I wonder if I need to bring in a deprogrammer sometimes to handle the obsession.