We're on the Dinosaur Train!

We were walking around and around in Menards, looking for just the right bathtub-shower combo, but we just couldn’t find one that would work. You see, none of them were big enough to fit a brachiosaurus.
And then the clock went off.
Yes, I was dreaming about finding a bathtub that would fit a dinosaur.
I know exactly where this dream came from in my mind. It makes perfect sense. After all, we spent considerable time over the weekend browsing through home improvement stores as we prepare to renovate our bathroom in the coming weeks.
And then there are the dinosaurs.
Oh, the dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs have taken over in my house, and in several others I know. This infiltration can be traced directly to the new PBS show, “Dinosaur Train,” which began just a couple weeks ago. It’s a really cute show, though, and it presents lots of scientific facts about dinosaurs.
Not only that, it has a train, which is a recipe for success in the minds of most four-year-old boys.
The commercials for “Dinosaur Train” started several weeks before the actual show began, which was NOT fun for us moms, because our sons started begging to watch it RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE! In fact, thanks to the modern miracle known as the digital video recorder, I was able to (forced to?) rewind the commercial so Logan could watch it over and over. And over.
Finally, on Labor Day, there was a four-episode marathon. Of course, I recorded it, and then Logan proceeded to park himself in front of the television so he could watch it over and over. And over.
Then we became characters such as Buddy and Tiny and Mr. Conductor. I eventually had to sit down and watch an episode just so I’d know who I was supposed to be portraying. (For the record, my favorite is Morris the Stegosaurus. He sounds like a cross between an 80s surfer dude and Cheech and Chong. AKA, not too bright, which is pretty accurate for a stegosaurus.)
Yep, we’re aboard the Dinosaur Train, all right. And I don’t see a station coming anytime soon.
It’s OK, though. I’d much rather have my kid interested in something scientific than something completely ridiculous like, oh, Spongebob Squarepants. It’s really quite impressive to have a little guy like Logan walking around rattling off words like “Cretaceous” and “Ornithomimus.” He even corrects me if I say a dinosaur name improperly, which occurs frequently.
Since “Dinosaur Train” began airing, we’ve had to search out all the plastic dinosaur toys that we have and find all Logan’s books that mention dinosaurs (The best being “Dinosaurs After Dark” by Jonathan Emmett). We went to the library and checked out dinosaur books. We wear dinosaur clothes. We don’t have roast beef or salad for dinner, we have “meat, because we’re carnivores” or “leaves, because we’re herbivores.”
I don’t really know what it is about dinosaurs that affects little boys so intensely. I remember when my twin cousins, Stu and Zach, were about Logan’s age. I went with them and my Aunt Jenny to the Sloan Museum in Flint to see a dinosaur exhibit. I still remember those two little boys, each clutching a toy dinosaur, rattling off the names of the different creatures. They were so much like Logan is now: So curious and intelligent, eager to learn more and absorbing the information more quickly than an adult could dream of doing.
So I won’t complain about the dinosaur craze. I don’t see any harm in it whatsoever.
As for finding a bathtub to fit a brachiosaurus? I’m not holding my breath.