Adults Don’t See the Same Things Children Do

In the mid-50’s we had a 1951 Chevy. These days I’m not sure which model it was (it looked like the picture above), but we had it from 1955-1960. Then something went wrong with it.

Looking back on family correspondence between our father and his father, we came across a short discussion about our new car, which our grandfather had bought for us. In the letter, he told our father to make sure that there was enough engine oil every time he got gas, and to get it topped up if it was running low. Clue…

Anyway, whatever happened to the car, I suspect it was scrapped.

One Day…

In 1960, we were doing our usual Saturday trip into Huntsville from Windermere (for shopping and laundry) in our new Austin A40. I was allowed to wander about. I came across our old car! Just to make sure, I opened the back door and checked in the side pocket (people didn’t lock their cars in those days): I found a Corgi toy that I’d left there. That’s how I ‘knew’ it was our car.

I ran back to the laundromat and told our Mom. She came out to see where it was parked. Upon inspection (of the outside), she told me it wasn’t our old car, and returned to the laundromat.

That’s when I realized that children see things differently: they are closer to the ground, so small details are available to them.

Conclusion

The following scene played out between John Candy and Macauley Culkin in Uncle Buck speaks to the fact that it’s a kid’s job to notice things…