I am the current owner of a 2025 model-year human baby. When I first signed his paperwork, he wasn’t running or even turning over, but now he’s fully mobile, though there are a few gremlins I’m still trying to work out. The gremlin I want to talk about today is his extreme obsession with wheels and tires. Is this how all human babies behave in their first few miles? Or do I need to have him checked out by my local baby-mechanic?
My wife and I recently took our baby Delmar (not his real name) to a flea market. We figured it was a nice Sunday, and this might be a good way to get some walking in, show Delmar some people and things, and maybe score a white-hot deal while we were at it.
This particular flea market takes place at a community college, with around half of the vendors outside and the other half inside a parking garage (which is nice, because the sun is intense). The month prior I had scored a scorching deal on two pairs of pants (My wife was upset that I didn’t try to bargain at all, especially given that I was buying multiple, but the pants are great). I ruined almost my entire wardrobe assembling a WWII Jeep from scratch, so my primary focus this time around was to find more deals on some clean threads.
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Unfortunately, that task would become impossible, as my one-year-old decided he was going to go absolutely bonkers over wheels and tires. It started with a golf cart; Delmar pointed at its wheels and tires and refused to continue walking. I picked him up, and he went nuts, wiggling in my arms like a fish out of water.
I carried him 250 feet over about a minute, figuring that by now he could move on to the hundreds of amazing vintage goods all around us — colorful clothing, shiny old mirrors, priceless sports memorabilia. But nope, as soon as I set Delmar down, he turned around and booked it back towards that golf cart, which was now on the other side of the parking garage.
Fast forward a few minutes, and as I walked through the parking garage with my wife Elise (not her real name), Delmar wandered off again, this time towards a U-Haul van.
He could not handle it. He jumped up and down, pointed with both hands, he started screaming. At one point, he was so excited he fell to the ground. He was more excited about that U-Haul van’s rear wheel/tire than I have been about anything in life.
After far too much time going nuts over that U-Haul van’s rear wheels, Delmar then decided to walk down the entire line of vendor-vans, going crazy as soon as he reached their wheels/tires.
Here’s an old Dodge Ram van:
Here are some all-terrain tires on a Ford Econoline:
And this Toyota Sienna was apparently too much for Delmar to handle, so he just went in for the bear-hug:
Delmar is so nuts about wheels and tires that he went absolutely mad over an elderly lady’s electric scooter wheels:
Now, I have to admit I was a bit confused about all this. I myself like a nice set of wheels and tires as much as the next person, but I don’t care if I see the most beautiful BFG all-terrains on the cleanest set of Rotiform gold wheels on earth — I’m still not going to go as nuts as Delmar did at that flea market.
Of course, there is a bit of biology to this all.
The Rotation Schema
My wife and I attend baby classes every week because we’re first-time parents, and it’s a good way to understand our child and to avoid certain parenting mistakes, while giving Delmar a chance to meet other kids. As such, we’ve been learning a lot about how babies’ brains work.
One thing I find especially interesting is the concept of “schema.” The way I interpret it is that a schema is like a building block needed to interprent our world around us. From the popular toymaker Lovevery.
A schema is a cognitive framework that helps your toddler organize and interpret information. Once a schema is established, your child is able to use it as a blueprint to process similar information. This means they don’t start with a blank slate every time they face a new situation or object—previous repetition and trial and error offers them valuable clues.
Lovevery specifically mentions why babies are obsessed with spinning things like wheels, writing:
If your toddler can’t get enough of things that spin, they’re probably working on their “rotation” schema. This is a form of play that can involve rolling balls, pushing toy cars, twirling their body, watching a pinwheel, and turning and twisting anything they can get their hands on.
What they learn from this schema play will help them later as they tackle math concepts like symmetry and geometry. It can also help develop physical skills like drawing, turning knobs, and dancing.
What’s odd is that Delmar loves wheels and tires that are not spinning, but I think it may be because he knows they typically spin, and maybe he’s going nuts over them because he wants them to spin, since his brain is pre-wired to want to see and experience rotation.
While part of me hopes this phase ends soon so we can walk through parking lots without him going absolutely mad, every parent tells me to enjoy all this weirdness because it doesn’t last long. So Delmar, keep going nuts over that rolling stock. As an extreme car geek who obsesses over automotive minutiae, I’m not one to talk.
Yep, that kid is definitely a Tracy.
As a father of three daughters I completely understand the wheel fascination. I had to completely eliminate tire dressing of any kind when my first little one came along. Something about a little body not much taller that a wheel/tire on a pickup smearing all of that soon to be black goop all over her one-sie. Instant yucky! I actually went out of my way to SOS pad the sidewalls of our vehicles to eliminate as much of the road grime as possible. Now that the youngest is almost 10 they are on their own now as I goop everything now!
He needs to see trains. Even bigger wheels and lots of them. :3
Could be the schema thing, orrrr he just really takes after his dad and is obsessed with cars. Only time will tell if it’s Jeeps in particular!
One of my friends has a picture of their son kissing a tire, he’s apparently still very hung up on cars too.
Man I wish I had known about one of these parenting groups when I Was a new father, would have been very helpful., Instead I just FAFOED my way through baydom. It’s much clearer now that they are teenagers, but those early years were ROUGH.
I think it’s the lemma of wheel, not the schema, or rather that Delmar is looking for the lemma of wheels. If it was the schema wouldn’t other things that roll or have an axle be worthy of his attention? And you say it’s not the spinning part.
For example, if Delmar likes this, it’s probably lemma, not schema
I shall taunt you once again! Epigenetic inheritance is controversial, unproven in humans, However, My Mother chalked up her persistent cravings for potatoes in all manner of preparation, to her ancestors having lived through the potato famine. What I find curious is how generationally separated monarch butterflies find my butterfly bush.
Also; Lemma Schema!”Forget the ring! The ring is bupkis! I found it in a Cracker Jack box!”The Schwartz is in You LoneStar!
So the Dutch Hunger Winter, Siege of Leningrad and Great Chinese Famine studies went right over your head?
You know, wearing activity-appropriate attire may be boring, but it is practical. I have replaced a distributor wearing shorts and a seersucker jacket, and have often been the most dressed-down person in a room where it really stuck out.
For example, when wrenching WWII military vehicles, what would Queen Elizabeth wear? Yes, she was only a princess, but was next in line to the throne and probably could have worn anything she wanted, but she went with relatively practical clothing, although she could have invented some sort of flashy shoe like the1st Duke of Wellington, He was a very busy guy, but like Eisenhower and Raglan he dabled in clothing design too.
Anyway, maybe some nice coveralls would help your clothing situation.
BTW Elizabeth looks very interested in that tire, and she did ok.
I think Liz is just wearing the standard ATS uniform.
I generally prefer to be (slightly) overdressed rather than underdressed, but I couldn’t care less when I’ve got some laborious work to do. Oil-stained shorts and high viz every time.
That time I changed a tire in a suit and my nice Louboutins really drove the point home.
Delmar is wheelin while daddy is dealin
It was exactly the same with my daughter. Even before she was able to walk, she already was fascinated by wheels…and it did continue when she learned walking.
Maybe he heard about the free candy inside those sketchy white vans…
Like begets like. Car nuts beget car nuts.
Yep! My oldest, now 23 learned how to drive a stick-shift Versa. I should have found an old International Travel-All or an F100 three-on-the-tree to lean on as the Versa was way too easy to drive, and parallel park but she’s a pretty good driver… of her automatic Mirage.
My 19 YO daughter dailies my manual turbo Subaru wagon. The clutch still works after a year. Don’t tell her, but this second clutch has lasted longer in years and miles than the first did.
That is awesome. About the clutch too!
It’s amazingly hard to realize our privilege and blessings while we’re clinging fiercely to our grievances and slights. My thanks to you for helping me lift my eyes.
My model 2013 was our official dog and Waffle House spotter from like ’16 to ’19… Real uncanny ability to spot either from like a mile away. Kids like what they like!
First of all good for you, your are doing great parenting instead of shoving a tablet in front of him and destroying his brain.
I also have a 2025 model baby and they don’t give a hoot about tires. They absolutely love needle nose pliers and an adjustable wrench though. Have you given DNHRN tools to play with? Maybe a socket wrench will get his rotational fix taken care of?
We are born knowing it’s all about where the rubber meets the road. Some forget with age.
Dude, time for an entry level RC car.
During my toddler years, I was (I’m told) fascinated by records spinning on turntables (I’m old).
My mother tells me that when I was a toddler I was fascinated with wheels and would turn my stroller upside down to spin them. My dad was convinced I was autistic. Turns out I just really like wheels and cars. Then again as I get older I suspect old dad may have been at least a little right.
Tree- Meet apple!
Dad of four here. I’ll explain things in easy terms any new parent can understand, so this will be useful for you and Elise, DT.
Kids are weird. They’re weird little creatures who do what they want
Try to keep him from killing himself.
David of all people I’m surprised you didn’t expect the usual problems of a first year model especially as a mix between two very different manufacturers.
Well, it is very rare to find a real-fixer-upper in this category.
Kind of like DaimlerChrysler?
Man that is amazing I can’t say I’ve ever seen an under 24 month kid walk that well. As for the fascination let’s remember despite the experts opinion wheels and tires are about the only thing about cars are height challenged offspring get to look at. It won’t be until later that they realize ” I had access to breasts 24 hours a day and I went for car tires and wheels” what was I thinking
I have a theory… When my brother and I were quite young (I was six) my dad took us over to a bachelor friend’s apartment and there were several Playbox magazines on a coffee table. My brother and I of course leafed through them and the first thought that popped in my head was how the milk ducts in the areolae reminded me of lug nuts.
When my kids were that age (a scant 6-7 years ago – it seems like it was last month), both of them would go apeshit at the Costco tire department. My local Costco’s tire dept is right next to the food court, so it was “get a hot dog and soda for dad, and then to the tires for the kiddos”.
They loved climbing into (or getting placed inside) the tire stacks. Then walk all over the “tire labyrinth”. I think they liked the new tire fumes, too (as do I, to this age).
I miss those days – the hardest and happiest of my adult life.
My age starts with a 6, and I still detour into the Costco tires if I’m not hauling too much cargo out with me. I say I love the smell, but my hand ends up on a tire every time.
Maybe Toddler Delmo has become TPMS sensitive.
You and Elite should start monitoring this, he maybe remote starting cars before kindergarten.
Imagine not finding out and then in Mal-Wart parking lot, just like the movie “CarStarter”.
*Probably nobody’s real name was included in this post, you know who you are.
We have had baby talk movies, baby boss movies, can this be Baby Fast and Furious franchise movies? David copyright this idea and include me
It’s learning how to learn! So cute! Look out, they get big fast!
It’s? Better upgrade your membership before you get tossed
We won’t toss people for silly jokes, only when someone’s actually being mean-spirited. Also, having a membership isn’t a shield. We have banned Members for being unable to be kind.
I still kinda miss hammerheadfistpunch
The guy with the squirrel thingy? I saw him recently, did he get banned for something?
Hammerhead posted on my Toyota diesel article today! He’s still around!
We didn’t ban him! 🙂 He just doesn’t comment with great frequency.
good to hear. I seem to recall he could get spicy at times.
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It’s was not intended to be a pronoun, more talking process. Sorry if voice to text loses context
I thought you were playing on the 2025 model year human baby part.
I read it how you meant it “what is happening here is learning how to learn”.