Fireman Sam to the Rescue!!

Sam has been obsessed with fire engines since before he could walk, but now it is at a whole new level.  Fatal Attraction's got nothing on him.  For the past month or so, Sam has worn his red plastic fire hat from World of Mirth all the time.  And when I say all the time, I mean ALL THE TIME!  He wears it to school, church, the doctor's office, the grocery store, etc.  You name it, he wears it there, muttering, "Sam's a fireman."  

He has it on when I put him to bed at night, it's on when he calls out in the middle of the night, and it's on when I get him up in the morning.  Needless to say, it takes some cajoling in the bathtub to get him to take it off for a quick minute to wash his hot, sweaty hair.  And then, dontcha know it, he slaps it right back on his wet head before I've even had a chance to comb it.  A fireman's gotta be ready on a moment's notice, you know!  And ready he is.   

The other night after he had gone to bed, we could hear a fire engine wailing in the distance.  Within seconds, we heard him exclaim through the monitor, "Fireman Sam hears a fire engine!  Fireman Sam need to go to the fire!"  We've found the best way to get him motivated for 8:45 mass on Sunday morning is to tell him that the church is on fire and he needs to go put it out.  (God will forgive that little white lie, won't He?)

We take his red Radio Flyer wagon ( a.k.a. his "firetruck") to check out the local hydrants to pump water from them.  He has  also converted my red resistance band into, you guessed it, a fire hose.  (Glad to see someone's using it!)  When we get back home, he puts the nozzle of the garden hose into the grill on the front my car, I mean, pumper truck, so it can fill up when we are inside.  

Then we launch into this rather creative game of his.  I go inside the plastic jungle gym thing in our yard, and he climbs up the side to "rescue" me from the burning building.  Then we switch roles, and I save him while he calls, "Help me, Fire Mommy!"  You just can't make this stuff up. For one, I just don't have that good of an imagination, but Fireman Sam sure does!  I guess I don't need to tell you his favorite show is "Fireman Sam" on PBS.  

We've often been stalking, I mean, visiting, our local firehouse quite frequently.  We sure have gotten the value out of our tax dollars!  I think they are losing money on us.  At this point we have seen the firehouse several times over, upstairs and down -- their various lockers, sleeping quarters, living area, kitchen, the whole shebang.  Sam has explored every crevice of their two pumper trucks, right down to the axes stored in a secret compartment on the side.   Everyone seems to know his name there by now, just like "Cheers."  I guess that means they know my name, too -- Sam's mommy.  (No, they do not call me Fire Mommy.  I do have some pride left.)

Yesterday one of the firemen indulged Sam by showing him how to switch on the siren and blinking lights.  Whoever said ignorance is bliss is onto something big.  Granted, this did add another couple of notches to the black leather belt he stole from me because it looks like a fireman's belt.  We also got to see the jaws of life stored inside of the back of the truck.  I've got to admit, that was pretty cool.  Being Sam's sidekick has its perks!

So you can sleep a little bit easier tonight, knowing that Fireman Sam is ready to save you from a burning building wherever you may be!   Maybe Santa will bring him a pager next Christmas...

LibbY