Weapon of mass destruction

I have a 2 year old, 3 year old and 7 year old.  And they do that to everything, including trains.  

“This is why we can’t have nice things” 

Ben

Did he find what he was looking for?

In all seriousness...  sorry for your loss...

I have seen similar when bears tear thru cabins...

It would be fun to see a video of one of these Weapons of Mass Destruction in action on a layout, but not mine.

Actually, on 2nd thought, a little kid's limited destruction on my layout would be worth it, if a funny video could be made. LOL, Arnold

PS: a short, very funny video of a child going to town on a layout could go viral.

NotInWI posted:

I have a 2 year old, 3 year old and 7 year old.  And they do that to everything, including trains.  

“This is why we can’t have nice things” 

Ben

I’ve heard your quote many times too from my wife!!! Like just about every week. So true. 

That's just poor parenting right there...yessiree....poor parenting.

-Greg

I raised 3 kids, and I never had that problem.  I made sure my stuff was inaccessible to them.  It was either too high, in a closet, or in the garage.  During Christmas time, I was always vigilant while they were near the trains.  I'd allow them to do certain things like load up the gondolas and boxcars with stuff.  Sometimes they'd control the whistles/horns or the speed, but I was always watching closely.  That lasted for about 8 years.  Once they got older, they didn't need the constant supervision.  I did have nice things.  Keeping them came at the cost of always being aware of what my kids were doing.

Greg, turn on the Chicagoland news for poor parenting.  That picture up there...that’s just a 4 year old excited about trains.  

Ben 

Looks like most of the damage was to the boxes. There are guys on here whole wouldclose their sh*t if that happened to them. Doesn’t look all that bad

Thank God the Tee-Ball survived!!!

hahaha that's pretty cute. Thanks for sharing!

Good Parenting is when you nourish the sense of adventure in a child, setting the limits where stakes are high. When it comes to pushing the envelope, that there looks like pretty low stakes to me.

Greg Houser posted:

That's just poor parenting right there...yessiree....poor parenting.

-Greg

I stand firmly behind my original statement.  I've been coaching and umpiring baseball through the high school level for 25 years and that tee is set way too high for a 4 yr old.  You're going to have headaches correcting his or her swing when they get older.  I don't know why folks assumed I was talking about the mess with the trains (or that the child is male).  Do we really need emogis to denote tongue-in-cheek responses?

-Greg

Hummmm,

Because the mess of trains was the topic of the thread....on a toy train forum....

Ben 

I thought you were talking about the giant fart cannon that Minions built

Greg Houser posted:

Greg Houser posted:

That's just poor parenting right there...yessiree....poor parenting.

-Greg

I stand firmly behind my original statement.  I've been coaching and umpiring baseball through the high school level for 25 years and that tee is set way too high for a 4 yr old.  You're going to have headaches correcting his or her swing when they get older.  I don't know why folks assumed I was talking about the mess with the trains (or that the child is male).  Do we really need emogis to denote tongue-in-cheek responses?

-Greg

Greg, While I appreciate your dedication to the sport of baseball at the high school level as an umpire, you should leave the coaching to the pros! And so you know where I’m coming from, my brother and cousin both had 10 plus years of MLB playing time during their careers. 

As to the rest of the arm chair parents on here I’ll be very clear. I’m not upset about the destroyed boxes. Life is far more important than stuff. 

As a dad, you cant have such cool stuff that is so interesting to 4 year olds

Great picture, a treasure to show the Grandkids, when the time comes.

Have fun with the kids, after all, they are kids today.

nuf said

.Brent

I would salute the kid’s determination.  He tore right into some of those boxes.  He’s probably got a future with UPS if he doesn’t get into building demolition.  I don’t know what the sharp eyed umpire is looking at.  The tee looks about as low as it can get.  Don’t quit your day job pal.

When she was that age, my daughter had her own set of LGB in her room  along with a Lionel animated news stand and a whistle shed. The only restriction was that Daddy or Mommy had to plug and unplug the transformer for her when she wanted to play with them. 

When the MTH Z4000 came out, she was taught to look at the digital readout and move the throttle to no more than 14 V and only then to look up at the trains. This prevented a wide-open throttle and flying locos. 

Let the kids play with your trains. If you teach the kids early how to run your trains properly they'll stay interested in the hobby when they grow up. 

Oh, my daughter's 28 now and still likes to run them on occasion.

bigtruckpete posted:

Have you ever wondered what would happen to your trains if you left a 4 year old alone with them?!!!

I don’t have to wonder anymore...

 

As soon as I saw the photo, first thing I thought of was this, from the end of the LEGO Movie...

---PCJ

bigtruckpete posted

Greg, While I appreciate your dedication to the sport of baseball at the high school level as an umpire, you should leave the coaching to the pros! And so you know where I’m coming from, my brother and cousin both had 10 plus years of MLB playing time during their careers. 

Pete, as a life long lover of baseball, as shown by my Popsicle stick ballpark on my layout, I would sure like to know the full names of you and your brother who have a combined 10+ years in MLB. That's a great athletic achievement.

Pete, my email address is in my Forum Profile, so you can email me your name if you want.

I was a great 11 to 14 year old pitcher, and, unfortunately, a very mediocre high school pitcher, so I gave up that dream then. Played with others, who seemed destined for the Major Leagues, but no one made it.

The only one from my hometown (Mt. Vernon, NY), who was 3 years older than me who made it to the Major Leagues was Ken Singleton, who became an All Star power hitting right fielder for the Baltimore Orioles,  and is now one of the voices in Yankee broadcasts. I would love to meet him. I struck out his younger brother, Fred Singleton, who couldn't hit, in the Pony League, all the time.

Arnold

Kids will be kids.

bigtruckpete posted:

Have you ever wondered what would happen to your trains if you left a 4 year old alone with them?!!!

I don’t have to wonder anymore...

 

Ha! I don't see damage, I see memories - waaay more important!

George

I played little league a few years, mainly because I loved sandlot, someone saw me and told my folks to sign me up. Couldn't hit a pitched ball, couldn't catch a hit ball, but man could I run and I had a good long-throw arm. Years when bunt was allowed, I was an on-base lock; years when it wasn't, a guaranteed out. I played right field; on a hard hit my style was to run backward, field it on the ground, and throw the guy out at third.

Moonman posted:

I thought you were talking about the giant fart cannon that Minions built

OK, Mr Wolf - I expect to see this in a catalog, soon. Lionel is way too conservative to do it, but MTH does occasionally produce, ah, "provocatively" decorated items...and more power to you. Could scented smoke fluid and a fan be involved? Please?

You can put "Proto-" in front of any noun, you know.

They should make those darn boxes a lot easier for the kids to open!  

My grandson is always pretty careful with the actual trains, opening boxes not so much. He thinks those are supposed end up in the recycle bin anyway, so get the thing open already and get right to the contents!   Actually, I miss him at that age, he's 13 now and they really grow up way too fast!  Enjoy them at every age, and 4 is a great age!

Bet the little rascal had a ball, though.  And not just a tee ball!   

Mitch 

It' hilarious , funny ....then not so much..

Ya just got to love children I think.

Years ago my oldest son at close to that age observed me painting a small part silver with a cheap spray can.

Shortly after my dad visited in his brand new Chevrolet .

Next thing we noticed when dad was leaving was that (Jr)  had went down both sides of that Chevrolet with

...yep silver  spray paint

It didn't take 5 min at maximum time of me failing to observe him.

Totally my fault.

Even us parents have to learn hard lessons some times when it comes to children.

Larry

Larry, don't let the kids watch you painting the porch if you also own a Porsche.

Chris S.

Here is a picture of my adventurous son (23 years ago )

amusement: destroying a toy train with a hammer! 

Too young to use dynamite, but would laugh quite a bit watching video of the classic Gomez incident.

Btw, he has never broken anything of mine or his, but tried!

all my big boy trains (some of which I still own) are intact, even with derailments

at speeds approaching impossible! Lol.

He needs this.

Looney Tunes Marvin Martian Earth Stomper Flatcar http://www.patstrains.com/View...Details=View+Details

Looney Tunes Marvin Martian Earth Stomper Flatcar Stock Number: 6-84799 Gauge: O/O-27 Gauge Manufacturer: Lionel Product Type: Freight Cars Price: $74.99 Availability: In Stock

"Oh goodie, my Illudium Q36 explosive space modulator"

Cool and funny! thanks Pat lol. 

But my son is nearly 26 years old. 

Moonman posted:

I thought you were talking about the giant fart cannon that Minions built

No, no,no! I said "DART" gun..........

Larry Sr. posted:

Years ago my oldest son at close to that age observed me painting a small part silver with a cheap spray can.

Shortly after my dad visited in his brand new Chevrolet .

Next thing we noticed when dad was leaving was that (Jr)  had went down both sides of that Chevrolet with

...yep silver  spray paint

And today,  your son is known as Von Dutch II? ;-) 

What's the problem?  Looks like Christmas morning at my house.  And it's just me and the wife.

Hal

Moonman posted:

I thought you were talking about the giant fart cannon that Minions built

What is the source of that short tank? TIA