Donuts and Porsches: Perfect for Little Girls

First off, my little girl is still, very much, a little girl.  She loves pink, she gives all her stuffed animals kisses, and she knows when she's dressed up in a particularly cute outfit.  She also giggles by screeching in a register heard only by dogs.  This last one, I believe, is the purview of little girls exclusively.

All that being considered, Mimi is by no means being raised as a princess.  She loves dirt, dogs, soccer balls, pouring sand on her head, and splashing about in freezing water.  I like this.  There may come a time when she rejects all things "boy," but I'm not so sure.  So far we've been careful to keep her from broadcast and cable television (no toy commercials) and out of the clutches of the Disney marketing machine.  Instead, when she does watch TV (used most often to help her finish a meal) she's entertained by either Thomas the Tank Engine or Top Gear.  I can see an appreciation of trains and cars slowly blossoming in her.  This makes me unreservedly happy. 

I love cars.  I always have.  And while it won't kill me if my kids don't appreciate them like I do, it would be nice if they eventually had a preference for Porsches or enjoyed a good day out behind the wheel on a twisty road.  In a stick shift.  Mimi's well on her way, I think.  She loves playing with toy cars - far more than dolls - and can identify her own car (our BMW wagon) from half a block away.  She runs to it and pats it.  That's a good sign. 

The picture below sums up my parenting goals for Mimi.  In her right hand is the ultimate American pastry: the doughnut.  And in her left: a Hot Wheels Porsche 928.

Now, not all was right with this picture.  The Porsche, despite being a 928, is marked as a turbo.  I do not believe that Porsche ever made such a vehicle, so I had to explain to Mimi that the artist at Hot Wheels charged with the graphics for the 928 probably took a design for a 924 or a 944 as his inspiration - the cars look similar - and inadvertently labeled the 928 as a turbo.  She seemed to accept this explanation. 

Mimi's love of Porsche did not end there, though.  She was so taken with my model of the Porsche 550 Spyder that she immediately wanted to get in.  Maybe someday I'll be able to take you for a ride in one, Mimi.  It'll be a replica, though.  After all, Papa's by no means rich. 

Raising Mimi properly isn't limited to developing an appreciation of doughnuts and Porsches.  Take a look at the picture below.

What could cause such unbridled joy?  Is it a pony?  Is it a Barbie doll?  Is it an undersea castle with Ariel and all her sisters? 

No.  A million times no.  It is a mid-90s Macintosh PowerBook Duo. 

In addition to her ongoing fascination with my vintage stereo, Mimi's discovered that esoteric and long-forgotten computers can be fun as well.  This little PowerBook Duo, shunned in its own day, was the forerunner of the MacBook Air.  It simply came 10 to 15 years too soon.  I think Mimi understands this.  And it's a great toy.  The gray-scale screen, in its 16 shade magnificence, still works.  Thankfully, however, the keyboard does not.  This makes for a computer that Mimi can just barely use, but not destroy. 

Of course, I'll let Mimi follow her own interests as she gets older.  But I do hope, given this time I have with her now, that I'll be able to plant a few seeds for the future.  Her Papa's interests are, I admit, a bit on the nerdy side, but I think they'll do her well in the long run.  At the very least, I hope she'll be able to fix her own computer, recommend an excellent doughnut shop, and take her father for a spirited drive up the Pacific Coast Highway when he's too old to do it himself.  Unfortunately, at the rate I'm aging, this last one will need to take place shortly after she gets her license.