Bob the Builder – Live

I cannot think of a more pleasant sound to hear at eight in the morning than the deafening hum of diesel engines, shouting workmen and power tools.

Some days I feel as though I am trapped in an episode of Bob the Builder, except it happens to be the New York version without the cheesy amicability of Bob and his gang (and without having “so much fun” either). At least the silver lining of staring at a cement mixer while eating breakfast is that my kids love every second of it.

Before I had children my knowledge of construction was pitifully lacking. My dad tried his best when I was growing up to explain the ins-and-outs of various construction projects, but without having the proper motivation, I found that by the time my kids started begging explanations from me about steamrollers, all of my dad’s tutorials had long been paved over.

Episodes of Bob the Builder, especially the On Site series, provide great, wholesome entertainment for my kids (some of the more current episodes are nauseatingly stupid, but classic Bob is worth it and readily available at the local library) and a wealth of information for me. There are also tons of books in the children’s section of the library about construction and big machines.

Even though I am a girl and until I got married had a She-Ra, Princess of Power trash can in my room, I find learning about engineering with my kids endlessly fascinating.

Indulging our familial curiosity about construction projects paid off in dividends when our neighbor across the street decided to have his 100-foot oak tree removed during the summer. Even though our house was covered in sawdust and we needed to shout to communicate over the chain saws, it was rather interesting to see how the tree crew maneuvered around the power lines from the bucket of a cherry picker, and how the stump grinder annihilated the remaining trunk and roots.

But the fun on our street was far from over. Our neighbors needed to have the curb replaced after the tree disappeared. Thankfully for my kids’ sake they decided to replace every inch of concrete on their property as well. Even better was that the bulk of the construction occurred on trash day and street sweeper day – triple bonus.

Who needs DVDs when we had high quality entertainment and education in the form of concrete mixers, front loaders and sidewalk construction (a great lesson on distinguishing the properties of liquids and solids: wet concrete takes the shape of the container into which it is poured – square sidewalk sections, molds set up for the curb – and then dries hard to keep its shape)?

The din is maddening and exhausting (especially during naptime), but I cannot complain about the free showing of Bob the Builder Live happening right outside of our window – plus in our live version the annoying character Spud never makes an appearance.