This is reposted from my previous Red Room blog to celebrate new first-time grannies, Annie, Trish and Shelby, who were all blessed with precious grandsons.

I’ve often been baffled by men and their cars. Don’t get me wrong. I adore any male who knows how to handle an ornery car. That takes talent and artistry and a confident craftsman to deal with automotive problems. I’ve seen calm, gentle men go into shock-mode when confronted with the family car—battered and scraped from the war-zone of a parking lot. Me? I just want my car to take me from Point A to Point B without any hassles. And yes, returned safely too, without any new scrapes from careless shopping carts.

I have seen baby boys grasp their teddy bears and their tiny cars. It’s hard to say if the tiny cars take precedence over “Teddy” but you can bet your accelerator that the cars play a large part in their genetics.

My stepson has always been attracted to cars. Ever since I knew him as a sixteen year old car junkie, he always had his head under the hood and his hands around the engine, dealing with some doohickey that didn’t sound right, while his girlfriend obligingly stepped on the gas pedal for him. When my grandson was barely old enough to cling to the coffee table, he had a tiny toy car in his hand, making that sound like an engine starting up as he circled around the table. I remember that because our table still has the grooves his tiny car made as he laughed and made car noises.

I am convinced that all boy babies have a genetic gene that is labeled “cars/trucks.” Little girls aren’t born with this gene even though they do learn about cars from their dads and/or brothers. But little boys are definitely born with the car/truck gene.

At Home Depot, I’ve seen those shopping carts with the toy cars attached to the front. While little girls sit like princesses, little boys, as young as 18-months, instinctively steer the wheel, push buttons and pull levers. See, it’s in their genetic make-up.

Two blocks from our condo, there’s a huge construction site on the corner. A little guy, not quite 2 years old, was totally mesmerized by the huge bull-dozer tearing up the corner lot and tossing huge shovelfuls of dirt into the back of a waiting dump-truck. He had such a gleeful expression on his face, simply seeing the action from across the street.  I’ve seen that same expression on a 4 year old who watched the fire-truck pull into the library parking lot. When the fireman noticed the little tyke’s fascination with the fire-truck, he asked the little guy if he would like to come and sit beside him. I have never seen a little face light up so joyfully.

Try this on any 3-months old baby boy. Hold a toy car in one hand and a soft stuffy in the other. Watch which one his eyes travel to first–90% of the time, he’ll reach for the toy car.  Congratulations!  You have probably activated  his car/truck gene and set the wheels in motion.  Darn it, how can you not love a dedicated male and his car?