Lessons from "The Little Blue Truck"

     Before my youngest son was born, we were gifted several board books.  I stacked them on his bookshelf and didn't look into them until a few months later, after he was born.  One afternoon, he was fussy, so we sat on the floor and I picked a few of the books to read to him.  I picked up “The Little Blue Truck” and began to read.  Have you read “The Little Blue Truck?”

    Like many other instances since I began my journey into parenthood, I found a good lesson that was beyond the story's face value.  In the book, the Little Blue Truck is kind to others every day, says “hello” as he passes by and seems like a friend to all.  In contrast, a big yellow dump truck hurries on his way to get his job done, and well, he's kind of a snob.  One day, he gets stuck in the mud and of course, no one rushes to help him because he's been unpleasant. But, friend to all, Little Blue shows up and tries to help...but they both end up getting stuck.

    Once the community hears Little Blue asking for help, they all come running, but even with horses and cows and other large (and smelly) livestock pushing, they don’t budge. Then along comes a toad and that made all the difference...the trucks were free! In the end, it seems as though Big Yeller has learned a lesson, but who knows (is there a sequel?)?

    The first lesson here is simple. Don’t be a jerk. I mean, even me, the quintessential introvert, Queen of the ISFJs, can muster out a nice “hello” or “good morning” and a smile to those I pass. Sometimes, that can really make the difference in someone’s day. It also lends to that old saying, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” I mean, obviously you shouldn’t be nice and courteous to others just to gain something in return, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

    Secondly, there’s a lesson in that all the giant farm animals couldn’t get the trucks to budge, but then little ol’ Mr. Green Toad (though the book calls him a big green toad, but I mean, how big can a toad really be?) comes along and makes all the difference. I was reading an Anne Lamott book after reading the Little Blue Truck and she writes about something similar.

    “Disaster usually happens for me when everything I have counted on has stopped working, including all of my best skills, intentions, and good ideas. I overreact or shut down, then torture myself about what a fraud I am, like Kookaburra’s bitter aunt Esther, in the branches of the old gum tree, pretending to sing the laughing song of the others by privately stewing. Usually there is something I can’t climb over, all the tools and stepladders have broken, and no one is around to give me a leg up. No one comes along to say, “I’ll haul you up, little lady.” Some pitiful thing appears or occurs, entirely inadequate to help shift this grim situation, and it can’t possibly be enough, but then it is.

    Point one: help often comes to us when we think it’s not coming, and when we think “This is it, I can’t hang on any longer.” Point two: It often comes from people or places we least expect it. Don’t underestimate anyone or anything. Without Mr. Toad, well, Little Blue and Big Yeller would either still be stuck, or at the very least would have been waiting for hours for AAA roadside assistance to show up.

     Apparently, story time with the kiddos makes me delve a lot deeper than I anticipated. Can't wait to see what deep thoughts I come up with the next time we settle in to read Goodnight Moon.