My son Thomas loves cars. The best place to see lots of cool cars is at a car show. Atlanta happens to host the largest monthly car show called Caffeine and Octane. I started going to this show in 2017 before I had kids. It was fairly large back then but you could see everything and get in and out easily.
This past weekend, Thomas and I went to Caffeine and Octane at its new location in Kennesaw. I hadn’t been in a few years and figured it would be fun to take him.
I don’t know where the Monte Carlo love comes from but it’s what Thomas likes.
On the hour-and-a-half drive to the car show we witnessed all sorts of bad driving. A group of motorcycle riders attempted to shut down the freeway. We missed an accident by at least a minute where some guy’s new G-Wagon was hit.
When we finally arrived, we had to park half a mile away from the event. The walk was eventful with young guys in modded Mustangs and Nissans revving their engines for no reason and doing burnouts. Mind you, this was 9 a.m. on a Sunday.
Once we arrived at the main show area, Thomas went nuts. He was so overwhelmed by the selection of cars he couldn’t make up his mind. So, we walked up and down every row of cars—and even wandered the surrounding parking lots. This was fine but I didn’t enjoy passing every car. When I saw something interesting and tried to photograph the car, Thomas would protest and put his hand in front of my lens.
What’s more, he complained that nobody was selling or handing out Hot Wheels cars. We’ve been to enough car shows now that he expects to get free toy cars just for being a kid. Caffeine and Octane is primarily attended by younger people who don’t think about these things. Whereas, hot rod car shows are typically attended by people who have kids and/or grandkids.
Thomas was upset about the lack of Hot Wheels and made it clear that he wasn’t going to be happy until he got one. We wandered around some more but couldn’t find any. Eventually, after an hour of wandering, I decided we should go. He wasn’t happy and my patience was wearing thin.
Thomas didn’t like this Lexus, and I agreed with him.
We trekked our way back to my car. He didn’t seem bothered that we were leaving but still kept going on about the Hot Wheels car. I promised him we’d get one before we headed home. I loaded him up, found the closest Walmart, and headed that way. Luckily, he was able to find a toy car for himself and his brother. I wasn’t about to listen to a complaining kid on the long drive home.
Once we arrived home, Thomas proceeded to gush to my wife about how much fun he had. He rattled off several cars that he liked. He showed her his new car and said he wanted to go again.
His recollection of the car show confused me because I thought he had a bad time. I know I didn’t enjoy the event like I once did. But Thomas’ response made me think about how I perceive things versus a child.
I took his reactions and responses to the different situations we encountered to be negative. But all the while, he was excited about what he saw and experienced. This makes sense since most of what we experienced was new to him. I’ve been around a lot longer so seeing a fender bender isn’t all that exciting. But to Thomas, it must have been wild to see a cool car smashed in the front, or to see a group of motorcycle riders speed past and behave unlawfully.
This jet-ski-motorcycle was my favorite.
Our morning out reminded me of that old Mastercard commercial where the dad takes his son to a baseball game. The dad buys the tickets, food, and a signed baseball but ends up having a great one-on-one experience with his son.
I know I’m guilty of focusing on the hassle of experiences and not the goal. The goal of my morning out with my son wasn’t to see exotic cars. It was to spend time with him. Even though I initially came away from the experience with exhaustion. My son was left with a positive and exciting experience.
Knowing this gives me perspective and appreciation for what my dad did for me as a kid. Especially since the time I have with my sons is extremely limited in the broader scope of my life.
I hope this helps parents who are struggling to get out and spend time with their kids. I know I need to work on my attitude, so it’s good to be reminded of how fleeting my kids’ childhoods really are.
Thank you for your attention.
Thanks Cory— I’m on the other end of raising kids. Somewhere, way back; we started buying 4 or 5 game, two ticket, packages to see the Utah Jazz play in Salt Lake. We couldn’t afford lower bowl, or even lower upper bowl, tickets. I’d take one of my kids and we’d spend the evening together. The drives down allowed me to talk with whichever child I had with me at the time. At times it seemed like a hassle, but my daughters especially liked the trips. They’d talk about everything but the game. I feel extremely lucky to have teenage daughters and an early 20’s son that aren’t afraid to tell me about their triumphs and struggles. Memories of those little trips to the cheap seats and overpriced hot dogs probably mean more to me now that they’re moving on than it did to them at the time. Whether it’s a car show, doing TikTok dances, or burning marshmallows over a fire, those moments will pay for themselves exponentially down the road. Keep doing what you’re doing and thanks for the perspective.
I have encountered similar outings with the kids. Everytime I take my daughter biking she cries and complains on any positive incline, loves any downhill then returns home bragging about how far she went and how far she climbed. Meanwhile the fight to get her to put in effort puts a stain on the entire outing for me, but hearing her take some pride in her effort and enjoying the ride, even if it is in hindsight, makes it worth it.