These days, every time I open the front door to reveal our busy street, Julian asks, “Where fiyah twuck is?”
“I don’t know,” I usually lie.
But the truth is, I know exactly where a fire truck is. In fact I just realized that we have an hour to kill between when he wakes up and when we need to be home to interview a new babysitter, so if I was just a little motivated, I could walk us 13 blocks to the fire station and let him see the darn thing up close and personal. Write that down on your list of “Five Places To Go When Being In The House Has Lost Its Charm.” Single moms, I think this is a worthwhile outing for you, too 
More anecdotal evidence that this is a worthwhile activity: Sharon reports that she was visiting a friend with a toddler and they were unable to have a conversation. Her friend asked if she minded taking a drive. They put the kid in the car and drove to a construction site and proceeded to have their adult conversation in peace while the little boy focused on the diggers and backhoes.
Kiddley offers some more free and dirt cheap activities for lovers of Things That Go.
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So true. My son, strangely enough, knew the word “crane” before many other, more essential ones.
at most fire stations, a usually handsome fireman, will let you and your son in the fire truck. they may even be prepared with a firehat and stickers. as long as they’re not having an emergency, like a real fire.
A lot of fire trucks come down our street too, so waiting out front to watch the fire engine zoom by is quite the activity at our house.
We also live next to a school so it’s always been a big event when the school buses come to drop off the kids. I think ‘bus’ was about his third word.
We live a few blocks from teh firehouse, so fire trucks are a common sight and sound, and the boy (2) loves them.
Also fun when he gets bored is taking public transportation. We live in Alameda and take the 51 bus to Rockridge, through Chinatown – it is very diverse and a lot to look at, and our boy likes charming elderly Chinese ladies …
Thanks for a great blog. I am a not soo new mommie, but still enjoy it.
Alexandra